I'll Be Your Honey Bee
by MassimoTostato
Summary: The Winchester Auto Body and Repair had been closed for nearly 20 years when Dean Winchester returned. Two years later, a man moves into the old Winchester house with his daughter and opens a flower shop across the street from Winchester Auto. Castiel Novak draws Dean's attention like no other, like a bee to a flower, they were meant to be. Destiel. Slow Updates
1. Won't Give Me No Rest

_AN:: Yeah this is a new story but I did a thing on my Instagram page for a fanfic in honor of the new SPN episode and stuff so this is what I got. Hope you all enjoy it._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural nor do I make any money from this fanfiction._

 _Title: I'll Be Your Honey Bee_

 _Rating: M (uncensored will be posted on my AO3 and Wattpad, which can be found on my profile)_

 _Warnings: Minor Character death, violence, sexual themes, etc..._

The Winchester Auto Body and Repair had been in Lawrence for a good fifty years. It was once owned by Henry Winchester and was given to John Winchester when Henry left. And when Mary died, it sat abandoned for twenty years, and when Dean Winchester returned to Lawrence at twenty four and reopened it with a couple of his buddies, no one was surprised.

But the town loved to gossip and having one of their own back after so long, the town had to gossip about him. People said that he had become a criminal or that he was a cheat; but no one could deny that he knew cars like the back on his hand.

He was the best mechanic in town and his buddies, Ash Miles and Benny Lafitte, knew what they were doing as well. Ash was a master with a paint gun, he could paint a smooth coat quicker than anything and his pin striping and clean cut designs made him wanted desperately by all the other shops and Benny could beat a dent of any size out of any metal with a hammer that he said he had made himself. While what those two did was fantastic looking, what Dean did under the hood was magic. He could take an engine that had no hope of ever running again, strip it, and rebuild it like new.

Them all working together made a rusted piece of junk into a vehicle that made even the Barrett-Jackson auctions look like it was made for teenagers running around with their daddy's money. But the town was grateful for them because it meant that they had more people coming in and out of the town.

It's the only reason they left him alone instead of bugging him about his personal life.

Dean lived in a house not far from the shop and near the one he grew up in. While him and Sam were the owners of the house they used to live in now, Dean just couldn't bring himself to live in it so, with Sam's agreement, he had put the house up for sale and it had been sold a couple of months ago; two years after he had put it out there. He hadn't met the owners, hadn't wanted to really, but he had heard that the people were happy with it, so what more could he ask for?

XXXXX

"Ya hear about the flowershop across the road?" Benny asked one day.

Dean frowned and pulled off his welding helmet, he had to weld a piece of the mount for the motor back on before he could actually mount the motor on it, "Nah, not really. Didn't even notice that someone finally got the place."

"Yeah, apparently the guy that runs it is doing pretty good business, got a daughter that's helping him too." Benny said.

"Huh." Dean replied, putting some weight on the mount to see if it was sturdy.

"That all ya gotta say on that, huh?"

Dean looked up at Benny and frowned, "What're you talking about Benny? What else am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know, figured you'd want to welcome him to town. Sides, he seems like your type."

Dean rolled his eyes. Benny had been his friend back in middle school in Louisiana and as soon as he had found out that Dean was bi a few years ago he tried to hook him up with anyone and everyone. "Look, Benny, I'm not lookin for a one night stand, not even a relationship. Just tryin to get the money so Sammy can finish college without worry and Emma and Ben can have some nice toys and shit."

"Ya spoil your kids Dean but I'm sure they wouldn't mind ya hookin up with someone. And anyways, when ya gonna switch Emma's name to yours? She didn't seem too happy to see me pick her up from school rather than you. Ya can't hide from the town forever." Benny said, frowning. Dean had had either him or Ash pick up Emma ever since the shop opened and Dean rarely went out shopping in the town if he could avoid it. "Ya can't let what they been sayin get to ya."

"I know Benny, now drop it. How many times I gotta say it, no chick flick moments!" Dean exclaimed, rolling his eyes as he brought the engine crane over to get it situated in the car. "Anyways, Sam and Jess are comin back home tonight. They're gonna be here for the summer. Sam seemed pretty excited."

"Think he finally proposed?" Ask asked from his chair where he was drawing out a sketch of the paintjob the owner of the 65 mustang wanted.

"He better or I'm gonna kick his ass back to Stanford. He and Jess have been together for three years now. Hell, they graduate next spring! Need's to get off his ass and do it already." Dean said, picking up his socket wrench and screwing in the bolt. "And he better have done it right. I'm talkin down on one knee and everything. Jess deserves the best and he better realize that now."

Benny looked at Ash and they both rolled their eyes. "Ya act like you're her daddy."

Dean blushed and scratched the back of his head, "More like she's already practically my sister. I don't want Sammy breaking her heart cause then I gotta help them both through this if it's messed up and I don't want to choose between them cuz that would break my heart."

Benny patted Dean's back, "Whatever ya say Dean. Look, it's time for Emma to be picked up. Finish what you're doin here and I'll go get her. You can get your happy ass over to the flower shop and get Jess some nice flowers incase anything goes wrong or if anything goes right. Girls like flowers. I'll drop Emma off at your place and head back here. Everything under the hood is done once the motor's in. Ash and I'll get the body work done tonight."

Dean nodded, "Right, right. Thanks Benny."

As Benny grabbed his keys and left, Dean finished everything under the hood, taking another twenty minutes to do so when he found that one of the belts were weak and needed to be replaced. Luckily he had another around the shop.

He sighed and wiped off his hands as he clocked out for the day. "Alright, I'm goin Ash. See ya tomorrow."

"See ya Dean!" Ash replied, going back to his designs.

XXXXX

Castiel Novak had been having a great week until Claire ended up suspended for fighting. Being a single parent, he had to close the shop up to get her and now he was behind on work. Luckily, he could have her running the counter while he worked on the list of arrangements that he had to do for a wedding that was coming up.

He heard the bell over the door ring and had suspected that the two women who had been hanging out in his shop for the past hour had left.

"Hello, how can we help you?" He heard Claire ask from the front counter and he frowned. The shop would close in five minutes. Who would walk in at this time?

"Ah, my brother's comin into town tonight with his girlfriend," the man, because the voice that was as smooth as honey couldn't belong to anyone other than a man, "I'm hoping he'll finally get the guts to propose to her but I don't know if anything will get messed up so kinda want to get the flowers as backup, y'know?"

Claire nodded and got up, "Hold on a minute."

She poked her head around the wall behind the counter, "Hey dad, need you to help this guy for a minute."

Castiel looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Can't you help him? I'm in the middle of arranging this bouquet."

Claire shook her head with a smile on her face, "Come on, besides," she lowered her voice, "he's cute."

Castiel frowned at her, "And he's probably much older than you." He sighed and laid the flowers in a vase, "Fine, but you are cleaning up the soil out back, a dog got into it earlier and it's all over the place."

"Hey! That's against the child labor laws!"

"Not when you're grounded it isn't." Castiel said, pointing towards the back.

Claire pouted and looked back at the guy at the counter, "Dad will help you. I got to clean up a pile of soil."

Castiel rolled his eyes as he stepped around the corner, pulling his shirt down a bit, "Now, how can I help you?"

He looked at the man and felt a blush rise to his face. The man had a strong jaw, beautiful green eyes, and sandy blond hair. He was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged his bow legs tucked into a pair of work boots, a green button up covered a dirty black shirt and grease went from his temple down along his left cheek.

"Yeah, I'm lookin for some flowers for my brother's girlfriend, hopefully fiancée after tonight. Any suggestions?" the stranger said, "Oh, yeah, names Dean Winchester. I run the shop across the street."

He held out his hand and Castiel took it, "Castiel Novak." He cleared his throat, "Do you know what type of flowers she likes?"

"Uh… Sammy usually gets her roses but that's kinda sappy. Jess has this one flower that she likes though, think it's called freezer or something like it." Dean said, shrugging.

"Freesia?" Castiel supplied.

"Yeah! That one. She always talks about them but Sammy can never find any in the flower shops near Stanford."

"Alright, are there any others that she likes? I could make a quick bouquet of them for you to take to her. It won't take more than a few minutes."

"Uh, lilies? I guess."

Castiel chuckled, "The oriental or the Asiatic?"

"Uh…"

Castiel smiled, "I'll just grab some and put it together. Would that be easier?"

Dean looked visibly relieved, "That would be great. I know nothing about flowers. Thanks Cas."

Castiel paused before nodding, "You're welcome, Dean." He handed the flowers over to Dean, "Here you go, that will be $28.35."

Dean dug out his wallet and pulled thirty out and handed it over, "Keep the change. I know it's not much but…"

Castiel smiled, "Thank you Dean."

Dean blushed and grabbed the flowers handed to him and stumbled backwards towards the door, "Y-yeah, um, thanks Cas."

He turned and ran out the door, much to the amusement of Castiel and Claire, who had walked back in as Dean was stumbling out.

"What was that about?" Claire asked, looking up at her dad.

Castiel shrugged, "Have no idea."

"Sure… whatever you say. Cas." Claire laughed as her dad blushed.

XXXXX

Dean ran back across the road and jumped into the Impala. He'd been in the flower shop too long and Benny was already back from dropping Emma off at his house. Dean cursed and turned the Impala on, turning up the music, and hauling it out of there towards home.

He was excited. Sam had been gone for three years to Stanford and he couldn't wait to see his little brother. Their dad, John, had been murdered by a man called Gordon on a bounty when Dean had been sixteen and left barely enough money to get them through the month so he and Sam had lived out of the Impala for a while. He'd taken some of the money to get them a membership at the local YMCA, it had showers that you could access at any time of the day or night as long as you had the membership card. It had cost over $200 bucks for one membership but him and Sammy had used it together and when they got caught, the guy running the place had turned a blind eye to them.

He still called the guy, Sonny, every once in a while to see how he was.

As he pulled into the drive he couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped as he saw Sammy's car in the driveway. He parked beside it and got out, nearly running into the house, a smile on his face.

"Daddy!"

Dean bent down and scooped up Emma with a huge smile on his face. "How's my little girl?"

"I'm not little Daddy, I'm nine!"

Dean smiled, "Oh, so does that mean you're getting too big for piggy back rides?"

"No!" She yelled, pouting, "I'm not a big girl either."

"Then you're just my little princess." Dean said, leaning in and kissing her forehead.

"You're great with her Dean."

Dean looked up to see Jess standing there watching them and he bowed, holding onto Emma as he leaned down enough for her hair to brush the floor and to hear her giggles. "Well, I had to raise your boyfriend so it's not like I didn't have practice." He grinned.

"I heard that Dean."

Dean smiled wider as Sam walked around the corner from the kitchen, "Ah, there's my baby brother!"

He put Emma on the floor and handed her the flowers, "Why don't you go give these to auntie Jess?"

Emma giggled and took them, running over to Jess and grabbing her hand, pulling her into the kitchen.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Dean grinned and wrapped his arms around Sam in a brotherly hug. "How's life baby bro?"

"It's going pretty good. I've already gotten a job offer for once I finish at Stanford." Sam said with a smile, "Doesn't look like you're going to be losing me or Jess any time soon."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the job offer is in Kansas City so Jess and I will only be a short drive away." Sam explained.

Dean grabbed Sam and pulled him into a tight hug, "That's great Sammy."

"Knew you'd be happy to hear that." Sam said, "Now come on, let's get some grub. I'm starving."

"No rabbit food man. I can't survive on that." Dean said, pointing at Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

XXXXX

It was a few days later when Sam showed up at the shop for the first time.

Dean couldn't remember Sam ever having been in the shop when John had ran it and when he got back two years ago Sam had been at Stanford.

"Samuel, good to see ya around our neck of the woods." Benny said, smiling as he slapped Sam's back.

Sam shook his head, "It's Sam, Benny, thought I told you that."

"Yeah but why would I listen to ya when calling ya Samuel gets ya all riled up?" Benny said, laughing.

"Guys, head's up!" Ash said, tossing Benny and Sam a beer, "Good to see ya still got your hard earned reflexes."

Dean rolled his eyes as he finished replacing the spark plugs on a customer's 2012 Charger. He wiped some stray grease off on his rag and chuckled, "Guys, we still have customers today."

"Well, Sam's here now so he can help, maybe we can get off work early today." Ash said, kicking his feet up on the table and taking a swig of his PBR.

"Actually, I came here to ask Dean something." Sam said, scratching the back of his head.

Dean frowned, "Come on, we can talk in the office."

Sam followed Dean into the office and took the seat across from Dean's chair. As Dean sat down Sam started talking, "Dean, I'm going to ask Jess to marry me."

Dean smiled, "Fina-fucking-ly! It's taken you forever!"

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's exuberance. "Look, I was going to take her for a picnic to ask her. I was wondering where you got those flowers because she loved them and I'm wanting to get her some more."

Dean grinned widely, "Sammy, I'll take you there myself, hell, I'll even pay for them!"

Sam smiled, "Thanks Dee."

Dean's smile got even wider, Sam hadn't called him that in years and it felt good hearing it, "No problem little brother."

They walked out of the office and Dean hollered at Benny, "Hey, I'm gonna take my break early! Sammy's finally gonna propose so we're gonna go across the street to get flowers."

Benny chuckled, "And probably so ya can check out that fine shop owner too." At Dean's glare Benny raised his hands, "Fine with me brother, and take your time."

As they walked out the door Sam looked at Dean, "You have a thing for the shop owner?"

Dean blushed, "I do not! Benny's just saying things. Ignore him."

Sam chuckled as they ran across the street and walked into the shop.

XXXXX

Castiel was flipping through a bridal magazine when he heard the bell over the door ring. Claire was back at school so his slow hours were kind of boring and it was getting close to bridal season. Since the wedding he had been making bouquets for was over he had nothing to do.

When he saw Dean he stood up and smiled, "Hello Dean."

"Hey Cas!" Dean said, grinning, "This is my brother, Sammy."

"It's Sam." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Sam. How can I help you both?" Cas asked.

"Sammy's proposing! Finally! So he's needing some flowers."

"This is for… Jess, was it?" Cas asked, walking over to the freesia. "Dean said that freesia was her favorite so perhaps we can use that in the bouquet? Are there any that she's allergic to?"

"Uh… she doesn't like daisies?" Sam said, scratching the back of his head.

Cas laughed, "I could see why, next to a freesia, daisies are quite underwhelming but I find when paired with the right flower they are quite nice. Is there a price range that you are shooting for or anything in particular you have in mind?"

"Not really. Whatever you think would work with the freesia." Dean said, nudging Sam as he went to say a price range, "And besides, this is going to be an engagement present for her."

"Oh, all right then, I suppose we could do freesia and honeysuckle, that way there's a nice smell to mingle with the freesia, and perhaps Jacob's ladder could go in there. What was her opinion on the fressia and lily mix?"

"Oh, she loved it." Sam said, smiling.

Castiel smiled back, "That's good. Then perhaps we could go with fressia, some lilies, and perhaps alstroemeria instead. Perhaps a pink rose in the middle and some eucalyptus just for some greenness. I feel like that would look good. The rose will give it a nice bright pop of color."

"Sounds great," Dean said, "How'd you get into this stuff anyways?"

Castiel paused as he was putting the flowers together, "I suppose it started with my mother. She loved flowers and I was the only one willing to help her with the garden. It sort of took off after that considering I met my late wife at a florist convention. I suppose I kept it up in their memory, and Claire enjoys it, no matter how much she complains about it." He said, smiling as he slid the arrangement over to Sam, "That will be $30.75."

Dean took the money out of his wallet and handed Castiel 35, "Keep the change, these are perfect. Now we just have to hope Sammy doesn't mess it up!" He laughed.

Castiel chuckled as Sam punched Dean's shoulder. "Jerk."

"Bitch. Well, see ya, Cas, thanks for the flowers." Dean said with a grin. "If you ever need something done to your car feel free to come over and ask for me, I'll even give you a free oil change."

Castiel smiled, "Thank you, Dean."

Dean blushed and punched Sam as he started laughing, "It's no problem, besides, you're helping my baby brother finally get hitched so it's worth it."

Sam laughed again and dodged Dean as his brother tried to pull him into a head lock, "Nice meeting you Cas!"

"You too Sam." Castiel said, waving as the brothers left.

XXXXX

"You like him." Sam teased as they walked back to the shop.

Dean rolled his eyes, fighting down his blush, "Shut it Sammy."

"You have a crush on the flower guy." Sam said, laughing, "That's adorable."

Dean sighed, "Just go and propose to your girlfriend. Also, you think you could pick up Emma today? We have a car coming later today and it's gonna need all three of us to get it fixed up. The dude's paying us extra to get it done tonight."

Sam nodded, "Sure. Will they let me pick her up?"

"Well, usually it's Ash or Benny picking her up. Just tell them that there's something holding Benny and Ash at the shop and you were the only one we could spare. They'll understand." Dean explained, shrugging.

Sam sighed, "You haven't told anyone that Emma's your kid yet, have you?"

"Aside from the guys, Bobby, Ellen, Jo, and you and Jess, no, I haven't. I don't want them learning that she's that idiots grandchild, they already judge me because of John, no reason she should be too. Besides, they've never met and she wouldn't understand." Dean said, frowning before looking back at Sam, "Go and woo your fiancée Sammy, and if you mess it up I'm kicking your ass back to Stanford."

Sam grinned, "Alright, see ya Dean!"

Dean waved as his little brother took off before going back into the shop, he had an engine to repair.

XXXXX

"Alright guys, I'm done for the night." Dean said as he wiped his hands off on a grease rag. He had finished the engine repair after five hours and Benny had already finished beating out the few dents and helping Ash tape the areas off for a touch up. All that was left was a quick look over and they could all leave for the night.

"Go get cleaned up Dean, we can finish things here. Besides, ya gotta go and pester that brother of yours, make sure he got it right." Benny said, smacking Dean on the back.

Dean grinned, "Thanks guys, bitch hasn't called me all day today."

"Hey, boy's probably just wanting to tell you in person." Ash said, "Now get out of here and give Jess a kiss for me will ya?"

"Dude, that's my sister." Dean said, pulling a face while Ash and Benny laughed. He rolled his eyes and turned to the door, "I'll tell them you guys are happy for them, that work?"

"Yup!" They replied as Dean walked out of the shop.

The outside of the shop was still brightly lit even though it was nearly six thirty, summer time in Kansas tended to do that. There wasn't any cars around other than the Impala and Benny and Ash's vehicles. HE walked over to the impala and unlocked it.

"Winchester."

Dean turned around just as the first round was fired, clipping him in the side. Dean hissed and looked up, "Gordon, what are you doing round here? There's still a bounty out on you."

Gordon smirked, "After killing your daddy I realized that I wanted the whole set. After that conversation I heard in there I'm guessin your brother's got him a girl. Gonna be real fun killing her in front of him."

Dean grimaced as he grabbed the knife he had strapped to his lower back, "I'm not gonna let that happen Gordon."

"Well, it won't matter seeing how you'll be dead." He fired another two rounds, hitting Dean in the shoulder and hip.

Dean yelled and dropped down to his knee, gripping his shoulder as he glared up at Gordon, "That's not going to happen."

With the last bit of energy he had he pushed himself up, using the momentum to stab Gordon in the chest, twisting the knife, "See you in Hell."

Gordon dropped to the ground, blood bubbling up past his lips as Dean fell back against the impala. He was going to have to fix the holes left by the bullets when he woke up, he thought as his vision tinted grey at the edges.

The last thing he saw was Benny walking out the door and shouting before he passed out.

 _::Sorry for any editing errors::_


	2. This Might Come Out A Little Crazy

Benny looked back at the door to the shop where Ash was standing, "Call an ambulance!"

Ash ran back inside and dialed 911 and told them that they had a man shot and the address before hanging up and running outside with some clean shop rags.

"Keep the pressure on the abdominal wound, those are usually the worst, seems it may have clipped his lung." Benny said, quickly going over the slim amount of medical knowledge he had.

"Benny, I hear the sirens, they're nearly here, will he make it till they get him to the hospital?" Ash asked, looking over his shoulder to see the ambulance coming up the street.

"Keep pressure on that wound, Ash, and he'll make it, Dean's a tough son of a gun."

"There's bullet holes in the impala and the wounds are all through and through, you sure he's not gonna bleed out Benny?" Ash asked, glancing back at the ambulance as it pulled up.

"I'm sure cause if he dies I'm gonna pull him back myself." Benny declared, determination in his eyes.

The EMT'S rushed over pushing a gurney.

"What's the patients status?"

"Stable, though he's still bleeding out pretty fast. But Dean's a fighter and these aren't the first bullet wounds he's received." Benny said, "He's got three bullet wounds, one to the shoulder, hip, and his abdominal cavity. I believe it's clipped his lung from the blood on his mouth."

"Okay boys, we are on borrowed time, we need to get going Garth. Quicker we get him to the hospital, quicker we can get him healed. One of you will need to stay here to explain the body to the cops." The EMT said.

"I'll stay, I'll call Bobby and ask him to bring Dean's badge and the wanted book, there's gotta be more to this than a gun show." Ash said.

"Right, let's get him on the stretcher Meg. Don't jostle him too much." Garth said.

"I'm gonna kick Alfie's ass for calling in today." Meg muttered as they moved to the ambulance. "You can jump in the back with him." She said, looking at Benny. "Garth, I'm gonna hook up an IV and an ET and get a blood transfusion started now, you better not wreck."

Benny looked back at Ash, "Don't let Sam and them find out till Dean's awake, I don't want seven foot of sasquatch freaking out until Dean's awake to calm him down."

Ash nodded, "I'm gonna get Bobby here then head to the Roadhouse to tell Ellen what's going down, gonna be a pain in the ass getting her to help me keep Sam and Jess busy."

Benny nodded, "Thanks bub." He hopped into the back of the ambulance with Meg, closing the doors behind him.

Benny sighed as he looked down at Dean, "You better pull through this."

XXXX

Bobby pulled up to the shop and got out of his Chevelle and headed over to Ash and the cops. "Ash, what's goin on?"

"Mr. Singer, I'm Sheriff Victor Hendrickson with the Lawrence Police Department. We're here about a shooting that happened between one Dean Winchester and Gordon Walker. Walker's dead and Winchester is in the hospital. We're trying to figure out what exactly happened here." Hendrickson said, pushing his hat back.

Bobby frowned, "Gordon Walker has a bounty on his head in ten states, including this one. I got Dean's badge in my glove compartment and a book with all the current bounties over the country. Give me a minute."

He went back to his car and duh around, pulling out Dean's badge and bounty license before grabbing the bingo book.

"Here ya go. Dean's retired but I keep his badge current. His father was a well known bounty hunter and he took a bullet from Gordon for Dean. Here's Gordon's page," he turned to a page with a wanted picture of Gordon and his offences, "I'm sure Gordon wanted some payback and threatened his family. Dean don't kill unless they're drug into it."

Ash nodded, "Yeah, he and Benny always talked about their hunting days together and Benny always complained about Dean being too soft on their bounties. But once Dean would turn away Benny talked about the ones who threatened Sam and let's just say I got a healthy dose of respect for Dean."

Hendrickson looked over the paperwork and nodded, "Seems everything is in order. I'll have to go type up the report. Do you mind if I return this to you at a later date?" He asked, showing the badge and license, "I'll need them to file my report and get the reward money out to Dean."

"As long as I get em back I don't see a problem." Bobby said, "Now, can we go, we got people we need to tell."

Hendrickson nodded and let them leave, heading back to his car.

"Get in the car, idjit." Bobby said, getting in the driver's seat.

Ash rushed around the car, "We need to go to the Roadhouse. Benny said to not let Sam know till Dean was awake so we'll need Ellen and Jo's help to keep them distracted."

Bobby sighed and watched as the medical examiner took the body away. "Fine, but as soon as Dean's awake we're leaving."

"Sounds like a plan."

XXXX

"We need a trauma room, stat!" Meg yelled as her and Garth wheeled Dean in with Benny behind them.

"What do we have?" A nurse asked as she ran up.

"Adult male, 26, three bullet wounds to the upper body, all through and through. One clipped his lung and he's bleeding into his lung. Next to a black impala when shooting happened so there may be residue off of the vehicle in his wounds. Multiple light abrasions suggest he attacked his shooter. Place of shooting was an auto shop so there may be foreign material in wounds that could cause infection."

"Get him up to medical bay three!" The nurse yelled, calling a few other nurses over, "Paging Doctor MacLeod, paging Doctor MacLeod, we have an emergency in the trauma bay, please report to med bay three."

"It's Crowley, Doctor Crowley." The man said, rushing up to them. He looked at Dean and rolled his eyes, "Of course it's a Winchester, always a bloody Winchester. Charlie, deal with him," he pointed at Benny, "Meg, Garth, continue on. Linda, Pamela, Aaron, and Ronald, you're with me."

Charlie looked over at Benny, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Benny looked at her for a moment before chuckling, "God no, he's my bud, best friends since middle school and we saved each others asses more than a few times when we were hunters."

"Hunters? Like in the book series Supernatural? Do you guys hunt the supernatural? Because you know they've been doing the genetic mash ups for nearly thirty years now and while I know not all of them are good, not all of them are bad I mean my girlfriend has a tail and tiny horns and stuff."

"Nah, we were bounty hunters. Been retired for about two years now. Other things came up so we headed here and brought Ash in and now we're running the most successful auto shop in the central time zone." Benny said with a proud smile.

Charlie grinned, "Thank God, because I don't want you guys going after my girlfriend, that tail is hot."

Benny laughed and relaxed a bit. The doctor seemed to know what he was doing and the nurse was pretty funny.

Dean was definitely going to pull through.

XXXX

Bobby and Ash pulled up to the roadhouse to see Sam's car sitting out front.

"I'll distract Sam and Jess, you grab Ellen and Jo and tell them what's going on. We're gonna need everyone we can get in on this to keep it from Sam and Jess." Bobby said, sliding out of the car.

Ash nodded and followed Bobby in. While Bobby went straight to Sam and Jess, and surprisingly Emma, Ash walked up to Ellen and jo. "Hey, can I talk to you guys in the office?"

Ellen raised a brow before motioning for Jo to follow him, "I'm gonna see if anyone needs anything then I'll be back there, don't touch anything."

Ash nodded and walked into the room and leaned against the wall.

"What's going on, ash? Sam said that you, Benny, and dean were going to be at the shop till late." Jo said, leaning against the desk as they waited on Ellen.

"Somethin came up so I called Bobby. I'll tell ya in a minute." Ash said, sighing.

Jo rolled her eyes, "Ash, just come out and say it. Mom's probably gonna be out there for a bit, especially with Bobby here, you know how they chatter."

The door opened and Ellen walked in, frown on her face, "Bobby said it was pretty important what you had to say and shooed me away."

Ash nodded as Ellen walked between him and Jo and took a seat at her desk.

"So, what is it?" Ellen asked as she took a seat.

Ash sighed, "Dean got shot." Ellen and Jo gasped but Ash continued, "Guy who did it's dead, Dean knifed him. From what Bobby said, it's the same guy, Gordon Walker, who killed John back then. We're tryin to keep it from Sam at the moment, considerin he'll raise all kinds of hell if he can't get near dean. Once dean's out of the operatin room I'm gonna tell Sam but we're waitin. Bullet nicked dean's lung so it could be a bit if they decide to fix it."

"Do you know how he's doing?" Ellen asked, looking worried.

"From what Benny said they had to put in an endotracheal tube because he started coughin up blood on the ride to the hospital. Benny's got one of the nurses with him, said that the surgery should only take a couple of hours at most but it's mainly on whether Dean's strong enough to live or not." Ash explained, sighing. "He'll be in the hospital for a week at least though. Sam's not gonna want to leave Dean's side and Benny, Bobby, and I'll be workin on the impala, that'd be one less thing for Dean to worry about. Have to keep the shop up and runnin as well. You guys will be busy taking care of the Roadhouse so we'll have to find someone to take care of Emma while all this is goin on."

"I could take the week off to take care of Emma." Jo suggested. "A week wouldn't hurt anything."

"You're working to pay for college, you are not taking a week off." Ellen said, glaring at Jo.

"But who's going to take care of Emma then?"

Ash sighed, "We'll find someone. We should get back out there, before Sam starts suspectin somethin."

They headed back to the main room of the Roadhouse just as someone walked through the door. Jo walked up to them and smiled, "Hey, welcome to the Roadhouse, sit wherever you'd like and I'll be there to get your drinks in a minute."

The man nodded, a slight smile on his face, "Thank you." He steered the girl with him towards a booth when they spotted Sam. "Samuel?"

Sam looked up, "Oh, hey Cas." He said, smiling before it shifted to a frown, "It's Sam, I thought I told you that."

"Ah, apologies."

"So, what brings you here Cas?"

"Claire wanted to eat here for dinner."

"Dad burned it." Claire explained before she spotted Emma. "Emma!"

Emma looked up and saw Claire and smiled, "Claire!"

Sam and Cas watched as Claire and Emma went on about something before they both turned to Sam.

"Can Emma stay the night over at my house tonight?" Claire asked.

Sam blinked, "Uh, I think we should ask-"

"It'll be fine, Sam. He's already said it was alright." Bobby butted in, seeing a chance to get Emma out of the way for a little while while they took care of Dean.

Sam frowned, "If you're sure then I don't see a problem with it. Are you okay with this Cas?"

Cas nodded, "Yes, it would be good for them to spend some time outside of school together."

Ash walked over, "Flower-boy! You takin little Emma?"

"I'm not little!" Emma pouted, looking exactly like Dean at that moment.

"Oh, of course, so sorry." Ash said, holding his hands up in surrender, "So, her dad's gonna have to catch up on some work and be working late all week, think you'd be up for taking care of her till Friday?"

Emma squealed in happiness while Claire turned puppy dog eyes on Cas.

"I...suppose. As long as her parents are alright with it then I see no problem with it." Cas said, sighing as the girls squealed and jumped up and down in delight.

Sam laughed, "Well, good luck to you. Why don't you sit down and eat with us? I'm sure you'd like to meet everyone."

Cas shook his head, "I couldn't intrude..."

"You're not, come on, sit down and eat with us." Jess insisted. "Besides, I'm curious about you."

Cas tilted his head in confusion, "Curious about me? Why?"

"Well, for starters, I'm curious how you manage to get my favorite flower to grow so easily. I've never seen such beautiful freesia!" Jess gushed.

Cas smiled and took a seat and soon enough, he was talking and laughing with the rest of them like he belonged.

XXXXX

It was two hours later when Doctor Crowley walked out to Benny.

Benny stood up and approached him, "How's he doin?"

"He'll be fine, I'm sure. Winchester's are always the most stubborn. I treated him and his brother, even his mother and father when they lived around here years ago. Was just starting out and thought that I had lost his mother on the operating table, she was flatlined for a few moments, and she came back. Soon as she woke up she tore me a new one. Not something I tend to forget." Crowley muttered, "Anyways, onto the squirrel. He's hooked up to a respirator for the remainder of the night to make sure his breathing returns to normal and that he gets the correct amount of oxygen into his system. He's being moved into a room at the moment. Room 260. Give it about ten minutes, grab some coffee, something to eat. He'll be in there when you get there. He's going to be on morphine for the next day or two before we take him off of it."

"He can't be on morphine!" Benny exclaimed, causing Crowley to glare at him.

"He needs the morphine and it wasn't a restricted medicine on his papers. Why the bloody hell could he not be on morphine?" Crowley asked.

"He was addicted to it when we first became bounty hunters. John got him hooked to it when Dean was in the hospital after one of the bounties shot him a few times. John pumped it up as high as it would go so he could get Dean out of there. Think he stole some of the morphine too. Dean was hooked on it for a couple of months before I finally got him off of it. He hasn't been back to the hospital since then. Haven't had a reason to put it on his file. He's got a high pain tolerance and shouldn't need the morphine anyways." Benny explained.

Crowley rolled his eye and cursed under his breath, something about 'bloody Winchesters', before calling a nurse over. "Get Dean Winchester off the morphine and write in his medical history that he has a past addiction to it. Start him on a dose of ibuprofen till he wakes up. Once he's awake we'll talk with him and see what he should be switched to."

The nurse nodded and walked away.

Crowley sighed and looked back at Benny, "Bloody Winchester's always making my work more difficult."

Benny grinned, "Sorry bout that bud, but can't have Dean getting addicted again."

Crowley rolled his eyes, "Go see the squirrel and get out of my hair." He turned and walked away as Benny chuckled behind him.

XXXXX

"Hello?"

"Ash, it's Benny. Dean's out of surgery and on a pretty high dosage of ibuprofen. Room 260 at Lawrence Hospital. Tell the others, visiting hours are over soon. And don't bring Emma."

Ash nodded, "Right, got it Benny. Be there ASAP."

Ash hung up the phone and looked over to where Sam was talking with Cas. Cas and the others were getting ready to leave. He'd have to wait till they were out of the Roadhouse before he told them. He looked over at Ellen and motioned towards the back.

She followed him over and he explained the situation.

"I can get them out of here pretty quick." Ellen said, looking over at the others before quickly walking over, "Alright guys, I'm gonna lock up. I'm having company over at the house tonight and need to get over there."

Cas nodded, "I'm sorry for keeping you so late. Claire, Emma, come along."

"Cas! I need clothes!" Emma said, looking from Cas to Sam.

Jo stepped up, "How about I take Emma home to get some clothes and drop her off at your place Cas?"

Cas nodded, "That would be great." He grabbed a pen and paper from his trench coat pocket and quickly wrote down his address and handed it to Jo. "I'll see you there."

Emma pouted, "Can't I go with them?"

Jo looked down at Emma, "Will you be alright with whatever clothes I pick out?"

Emma scrunched up her face before shaking her head. Jo laughed and they followed Cas out of the Roadhouse.

As soon as they were gone Ash looked at Sam and Jess before looking at Ellen and Bobby who both shook their heads. He took a deep breath and sat down across from Sam. "Uh, not sure how to tell you but... Dean's in the hospital."

Sam tensed up and looked over at Ash, shock clear on his face, "What?! Why?! When!?"

Ash sighed, "It happened about three hours ago. He was shot by a guy called Gordon-"

"Gordon's in town and you let Emma leave without me!?" Sam yelled, standing up.

Bobby rolled his eyes and slapped the back of Sam's head, "Sit down ya idjit! Let him finish!"

Sam frowned and took his seat, glaring at Ash, "You better have a good reason for waiting to tell me."

Ash nodded, "Look, Dean was shot by Gordon but Dean killed Gordon. Gordon managed to nick Dean's lung otherwise we wouldn't've taken him to the hospital. We didn't tell ya because we knew you'd be worried out of your mind till ya could see Dean again and Benny just called to tell me that Dean's out of surgery. He's in room 260 at the hospital."

Sam nodded and got up, Jess following behind. "Meet ya'll at the hospital." He said before walking out the door.

Ash sighed, "I'm gonna go with ya to the hospital to get Benny. We'll take a cab back to the shop. We gotta get to work on the impala before Dean's out of the hospital. Which means we gotta find a replacement door and fix the interior along with the glass."

Bobby nodded, "I should have a couple of doors for the impala back in the yard if ya guys wanna go diggin for it. If the spotlights are damaged though, I don't got those on hand. You'll have to search for those."

Ash nodded, "Alright. Well, we should get to the hospital. Sam's probably already there knowin him."

XXXXX

Benny heard the boots running across the floor before he spotted Sam but as soon as Sam rounded the corner into the room, Benny got out of the way.

"He's gonna be asleep for the rest of the night, Sam." Benny said, sighing as Sam immediately started looking Dean over.

Of course he was ignored by Sam. He rolled his eyes and looked at Jess as she walked in. "Hey Jess."

"Benny," Jess said, smiling, "How is he?"

"Well, the doctor put him on morphine, which I immediately told him to get Dean off of it. Dean's on a pretty high dose of Ibuprofen right now instead. They said he should be off of it tomorrow and put on a lower dose for a little while. He's going to be on the respirator for the rest of the night though, till they know he can keep the oxygen levels himself." Benny explained as he watched Sam get onto the small hospital bed beside Dean.

Bobby and Ellen walked in a few minutes later.

"Benny, Ash's waitin on ya outside. He's callin a cab. Think we'll be able to take it from here. Thanks for keepin an eye on him."

"He's my best bud, course I'll keep an eye on him. Might wanna watch Sam there, he's not layin on the side with the hurt lung so he should be good but there's two bullet wounds on the side he's layin on so might wanna make sure he doesn't open them again." Benny explained to Bobby and Ellen before waving and leaving, "See ya later."

Bobby sighed and took a seat on the chair, leaving the small couch in the pretty big room, for a hospital room, for Ellen and Jess. "Sam, I know ya heard what Benny said, be careful."

Jess sighed, "I hope Dean's better by tomorrow... I don't like seeing him like this."

"I'm just hoping that Sam won't open the wounds." Ellen muttered, glancing back at Sam and Dean.

"He won't. This ain't the first time that he's been like this. Sam and Dean usually end up overprotective of each other for a while after they get hurt. There was one time when Sam and Dean both jumped off the roof; Sam broke his arm and Dean took him to the hospital on his bike handlebars. Nearly punched the doctor and John in the face when they tried to get close to Sam after he was all patched up." Bobby said, rolling his eyes at the memory.

"How old were they when that happened?" Jess asked, curious. Sam didn't really talk about his childhood much.

"Think Dean was nine so Sam would've been about five. John was out on a bounty and they were at the hotel alone. Dean practically raised Sam. They're nest mates so it's not that surprisin." Bobby explained, "Or that's what Dean explained their relationship as..."

"Dean simplified it a lot." Sam said from where he was curled around Dean. "While we are brothers it's more complicated than that... We both have nicknames for each other, I'm sure you guys have noticed Dean calling me Sammy and me calling Dean Dee. They're nicknames but so much more." Sam sighed, "It's difficult to explain but the nicknames are similar to what birds do, they have different sounds for the others close to them and each sound varies for what that bird means to them. To me, Dee means protector, savior, warmth, home, older brother, trusted one, incomparable, amusement, and a type of platonic love. Even then it doesn't really convey everything it really means. Each time I call Dean Dee it's conveying all of that to him and so much more. We don't express our emotions that much between us outwardly. Using those nicknames are quick ways to convey that and all the emotions that we're feeling right then. It's why I get so upset when other people call me Sammy. They're taking away all the meaning of the word and the feeling that Dean convey's to me when they use it."

Bobby frowned, "I didn't realize that you two had so many bird like traits. I knew about the birthin for you two and what your parents did but I didn't realize that this much had crossed over too."

Sam shrugged, "It's not something that many people understand. I mean, there's only been, what, about 50 cases of what happened to us in the World and most of them are dead now."

"Wait, what are you talking about? You never mentioned any of that to me." Jess said, looking hurt.

"It's not really something we like mentioning Jess... and it's easy enough to hide." Sam explained.

"They don't like talkin about it because it's how their mother died." Bobby said, which got Ellen's attention. "Mary was kidnapped way back when and was only released when she agreed to give something up to an experiment. They took two of her eggs and some of John's sperm and genetically modified it. They kept one longer than the other and that's how Sam and Dean came into play."

"I can't really remember much of what all happened but Dean has some memories of our time in the lab..." Sam muttered which caused Bobby to sit up.

"How can he remember that? He didn't even, technically, exist then." Bobby asked.

"Not really all that sure to be honest. He usually just brushed me off when I asked or changed the subject. He doesn't really like talking about the lab..." Sam mentioned, looking down at Dean and curling up next to him again.

Jess cleared her throat, "S-so Sam, what does Dean convey when he calls you his nickname for you?"

Sam grinned, "A lot more than he would ever say. The name conveys protected, precious, most valued, home, little brother, trusted, strength, little one, platonic love, and so much more. There isn't really enough words to describe what the names mean to us really."

Jess smiled, "It's nice that you two have that bond though."

"Well... we really needed it when we were younger, Dean even more than me." Sam said, "Anyways, can we talk about something else?"

Bobby nodded before looking over at Jess and spotting the ring, "So, ya finally popped the question?"

Jess smiled widely, "Yes! He did! It was great. We went to the park and had a picnic and he got down on one knee and afterwards he gave me the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen!"

"Yeah, Cas suggested most of them. Dean said it was an engagement present though." Sam said, blushing as he admitted to not picking them out.

Jess smiled, "Awe, I knew he liked me. Think we can convince him to help with the wedding preparations?"

"Well, considering he's not going to be able to do much heavy lifting and strenuous activity for a while I'm sure we'll be able to convince him to help. If nothing else I can talk him into setting up the music for the reception." Sam said.

Jess frowned, "Are you sure he should do the music? I don't really want Metallica at the wedding."

"Trust me. Dean should pick the music for the wedding. We can lay down some guidelines on what not to play and he'll respect it. Besides, he'll probably try to sabotage everything but the music. He'll try to convince us to have a pie instead of cake, I just know it." Sam explained.

Bobby rolled his eyes, "I'm sure he'll manage to convince one of ya to get a pie for the reception, even if it's just on the table." He looked at the clock, "Visiting hours are over in a few minutes. Guess me and Ellen will take off. Jo will be here tomorrow. I'm sure Jody'll want to come by too. Pick up a phone when he wakes up and call us. We'll bring ya both a change of clothes tomorrow."

Ellen walked over and gave Sam a hug and brushed a small kiss along the top of Dean's head before giving Jess a hug too, "We'll be by late tomorrow, I'll have to close the Roadhouse before coming over but I won't be able to come over before then. But you two better get some sleep tonight. I'll ask some nurses to bring in some extra blankets."

"Thank you Ellen." Jess said, seeing that Sam had curled back up to Dean and fallen asleep. "I'll watch over them till tomorrow."

"You better get some rest too, Jess. You've had a busy day too." Bobby said, frowning at her, "I'll tell the nurse to check up on all of ya'll every once in a while."

Jess smiled, "Thank you guys, really."

"It's no problem, you're family." Bobby said before nudging Ellen, "Come on, let them sleep. Ya need to get home to Jo anyways."

"Good night guys." Jess said as she turned back into the room. She looked over at Sam and Dean and smiled before laying down.

AN:/:

So, there is going to be a bit of Genetic mutations in this story and it will come into play more as the story progresses and it will all be explained! Don't knock it until you understand what's going on.  
There will be no Wincest in this fic, just Sam and Dean with a very codependent platonic relationship.  
Also, I will be making this a small series. I'm going to have a spin off of this that goes over Sam and Dean's childhood. It may be a while before I get it up though. I plan on working on it when I get the inspiration.

Also, chapter titles will be from the Song 'I'll Be Your Honey Bee' By Blake Shelton and may or may not have any significance to the story or plot. I just thought the song fit this fic.


	3. I'll Do My Best

Jo pulled up to Castiel's house and got out of her car, helping Emma with her things and walking her to the door. She knocked and waited till Castiel opened the door.

"Hey, so here's Emma's things. I'm sorry for leaving her and running but I really need to get back." Jo said, handing Castiel Emma's bag and things, "She has her iPod and headphones in her bag too, along with her vitamin C. She's supposed to take two a day because her dad is really paranoid about her getting sick and stuff. Anyways, I really need to go. Here's my number in case you need anything and we'll be back to pick her up by Saturday, is that alright?"

Castiel nodded, "Of course. I'll call if I have any questions or anything of the sort."

Jo smiled before kneeling down in front of Emma, "You be good for Castiel alright? Go to bed on time, don't raise your voice, and be the little angel your daddy always calls you, okay?"

Emma nodded, a wide smile on her face, "Okay Auntie Jo!"

Jo smiled wider and gave Emma a big hug, "Also, remember, if you need anything, just ask Castiel to call me and I'll be right here."

Emma nodded and waved goodbye as Jo left before turning and looking up at Castiel, "Do you think I could have some ice cream?"

Castiel chuckled, "Sure, but let's call Claire down and put your things into the guest room first, shall we?"

Emma nodded and bounced into the house with a wide smile while Castiel called for Claire.

Claire came running down the stairs and smiled when she saw Emma, "Emma! Come on! Let's go to my room, I want to show you some stuff!"

"Actually, Claire, I was going to show Emma where she'll be staying while here and we figured we'd go out and get some ice cream." Castiel said.

"Really? Awesome!" Claire said, "Come on! I'll show you the guest room then we can go get ice cream at Sylas & Maddy's!"

Claire drug Emma into the guest room and helped her put her things up in the drawers and such before they came back out to find Castiel. "Hey Dad! We're ready!"

Castiel walked back in from the kitchen with his keys in hand and trench coat on, "Alright then, let's go out to the car, it's too late to walk there. You two, get in the back."

Claire rolled her eyes but Emma went and hopped into the car and giggled, "Your car has funny seats."

Castiel frowned, "What do you mean, Emma?"

"They're fuzzy, Daddy's seats are really slippery!" Emma said, "Does your car have a name too? Daddy calls his Baby and Uncle Sam and Auntie Jo always make fun of him."

"Um... no, my vehicle doesn't have a name." Castiel said, "Would you like to name it?"

Emma frowned for a few minutes and Cas pulled out of the parking space in front of the house, headed for the ice cream shop.

"Cassandra!" Emma shouted, smiling widely.

Claire frowned, "Why Cassandra?"

"Cause then we can call it Sandy!" Emma said, looking proud of the name.

Castiel chuckled, "Cassandra it is then."

He pulled up to the ice cream shop and parked, letting the girls out and following them into the shop. "Pick which flavor you guys want."

Claire walked up to the counter, "Could I get a scoop of the chocolate fudge brownie?"

"I want the Coconut Crème Pie!" Emma said, smiling at the woman behind the counter.

"I'll take a scoop of the Mint Chip, please." Castiel said, stepping up to the counter and taking his wallet out and paying the cashier as she rang them up.

The woman smiled and handed him his change as the man scooped out the ice cream for them. He handed the cones over the counter with a smile, "Hope to see y'all again here soon!"

Claire smiled, "Hope to be here again soon!"

Castiel chuckled, "We'll see about that." He lead them over to a table in the corner and sat down.

XXXX

It was around thirty minutes after they sat down until they left. They headed straight to the house and into the living room where Claire dug through her movie collection. It wasn't long until Brave was playing on the television.

"I think I'm happy with one little brother..." Emma said, frowning at the triplets that were wrecking havoc on the television. "At least Ben's six..."

"It's the older brothers you need to look out for." Castiel said, causing Emma to look up at him with a frown, "I have three older brothers and a younger sister. My brothers, Michael and Luke, would terrorize Hannah and I but my mother, Anna, would just turn her back and ignore them and my father wasn't around much. When my mother passed, our older brother, Gabriel, took care of Hannah and I for the couple of years before we could leave to college. So, in all honesty, it just depends on the person the sibling is, though the older ones definitely get away with more."

"I don't remember my mom all that much..." Emma muttered, looking down at her lap, "Daddy told me that my mom wasn't a good person and left me with him years ago. I don't miss her, Daddy has been great, really... but, I miss the idea of a mom I guess. That's what my teacher told me when I told her. Cause it's not something that I've experienced myself but Daddy's doing the best to fill both roles."

Claire sighed, "I think not remembering your mom's better than remembering her, even a little... Then you have those few memories and you always have that what if moment and you bring up images of her and it just makes you sadder. I loved my mom but no matter how much I loved the time I spent with her, sometimes I wish I hadn't've had that time."

"It doesn't do to dwell on the past or the future because there's no time like the present." Castiel said, sighing, "Anyways, the movie's over you Debbie downer's. Go get washed up and ready for bed."

"Aw! But Dad!" Claire whined.

"No whining, Claire. It's nearly ten. I let you both stay up an extra hour to watch your movie but it's time for bed." Castiel said, standing up.

Emma nodded and headed for the bathroom to brush her teeth, Claire following slowly behind.

Castiel sighed and ran a hand down his face. He hadn't been expecting the subject to turn so grim or he wouldn't have said anything.

Emma walked out of the bathroom in a nightgown and Claire followed behind in some flannel pajamas. "Okay, why don't you two go get in bed and I'll be right there to tuck you in."

"Dad, I'm too old for that." Claire said, rolling her eyes.

Emma smiled widely and ran to the guest room, causing Claire and Castiel to laugh.

"Okay, okay, I'll go to bed. Night Dad."

"Goodnight, Claire."

Castiel walked into the guest room to see Emma leaning over the bed plugging her iPod charger into the port. She looked over at him and waved. "What are you doing, Emma?"

"If Daddy's not here I listen to music to go to sleep. It helps keep nightmares away, Daddy said so!" Emma said, messing with her iPod for a moment before the soft strums of an acoustic guitar flowed through the room.

" _Oh the summertime is coming, and the trees are sweetly blooming. Where the wild mountain thyme, grows around the blooming heather, would you go, lassie, go?"_

The music flowed through the room, softly at first but getting a bit stronger as the singers confidence increased. Castiel stopped in the doorway for a moment and just listened to the singer before walking into the room and tucking Emma in. "Who was singing that, Emma?"

Emma giggled, "I can't tell you!"

Castiel huffed and rolled his eyes, smiling, "Okay, I'll let you keep your secrets for now. Goodnight, Emma."

"Night-night, Cassie." Emma said, hugging her stuffed lion close and closing her eyes.

Castiel paused in the doorway, looking back at the already sleeping child, before shaking his head and walking out; it was just a coincidence, wasn't it?

XXXXX

Dean slowly came to awareness, keeping his eyes closed and his breathing as steady as possible, which seemed more difficult than it should have been. He noticed soft whispers to the side of him and a warm body laying beside him. There was a sharp, regular beep echoing around him that threw him off so he slowly blinked his eyes open.

"He's waking up!"

Dean groaned as his eyes finally opened to the bright white tiles and fluorescent lights of Lawrence Hospital. "Why am I in the hospital?" He grunted out, trying to sit up, only to fall back down at the shooting pain in his side.

"Don't get up, Dee. You have a chest tube in your side and you could rip it out if you move around too much." Sam said, pushing Dean back onto the bed, "You really scared us all. Benny walked out of the shop to see you passed out, bleeding, and a dead body near you."

Dean ran a hand down his face, finally noticing the mask for the respirator and groaning again, "Look, I can explain."

"Bobby already told us and the cops who the guy was." Sam said.

Dean sighed and looked over at Sam, who was still at his side on the bed, "Look, Sammy, I know I said I was off hunting and everything but Gordon came out of nowhere."

"You'll have to explain to the cops, Dee." Sam said, sighing, "They're outside the room, been there all night. Henriksen didn't want to leave you alone in case someone came back to finish the job or if your story didn't match up to what they're guessing happened."

Dean nodded, "Just bring them in, gotta get this done sooner or later."

Sam nodded and got up, going to the door and bringing one of the officers in, "Dean, this is officer Hael, she'll be taking your statement."

Dean nodded and motioned for her to take a seat in the spare chair while Sam took a seat beside Jess.

"State your name, date of birth, age, and profession for the record please." She said, taking out a tape recorder, turning it on, and placing it down while taking out a notebook to write down what he was saying as well.

"Dean Winchester, January 24th 1979, 26, currently owner and mechanic at Winchester Auto Body, previously a Bounty Hunter." Dean replied.

"Alright, Mr. Winchester, please state everything that happened yesterday during the shooting." Officer Hael said, leaning forward.

Dean sighed, "I walked out of my shop, got to leave early because I was done with the motor I was working on so Benny and Ash kicked me out, they knew I'd be there all night if they didn't just so I could get the car out of there. I was walkin toward my Baby when I felt a difference-"

"You felt a difference?"

"When you've been risking your life since you started shootin at age six, ya tend to get a sort of sixth sense if someone wants to kill you or do you harm." Dean explained, "Anyways, I felt a difference and was turning around when the first shot hit me. Gordon was standing there with a Desert Eagle pointed at me."

"How do you know it was a Desert Eagle?"

"I've been at the wrong end of Gordon's gun enough to know what it looks like." He shifted down on the bed a bit, "He started goin on about killing me and my family, wantin the whole set since he killed dad. He was listenin in, he knew about Sam and Jess gettin engaged and was plannin on killin her and so I grabbed my knife, I keep it strapped to my lower back cause I've had too many people trying to kill many people tryin to kill me over the years. He shot twice, hit me both times, I dropped down to my knee. I'm not sure what exactly happened after that, lost too much blood, but I'm sure I killed him. No one threaten's my family and get's away alive." He finished with a glare.

Officer Hael nodded, "I think I have everything that I need. Mr. Singer already provided Sheriff Henriksen with your badge and the bingo book page with the bounty for Gordon Walker. It should take a few days to sort this all out then we will send out the bounty and get it back to you at some point in the next two weeks. Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Winchester."

Dean nodded to her as she walked out. He looked over at Jess, "Think you could leave so I can talk to Sammy alone for a few minutes."

Jess smiled, "I'll go down to the cafeteria and get some food. They should be bringing your food soon since you're finally awake." She kissed Sam and kissed Dean on the forehead as she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Sam looked over at Dean, "What'd you send Jess out for?"

Dean frowned and leaned forward, "I need you to check my back."

Sam's eyes widened and he rushed forward, moving to the injured shoulder and pulling the gown away to see the huge black outline of wings on the back of Dean's back damaged. "You'll have to pull them out for me to see the full damage Dee."

Dean gave a tight nod, gritting his teeth and forcing the tattoo's to disconnect from his back and solidify into huge sandy wings. They were about ten feet each, a dark tan color that matched Dean's hair. They had slightly orangish tan dots all over but along the bottom edges of the flight feathers and up towards the middle of his back where they connected to his shoulder blades, they were green. The green changed colors under different lighting but a section of the feathers along the top were dark and matted. There was blood caking them and it looked like the main bone, the one that holds the first and second joints, was broken. There was a pretty deep cut on it too.

"I'm gonna have to wash off the blood and patch it up... I could set the bone and clean the cut but if I do that then you're going to need to leave your wings out. Would you be able to deal with that? I could talk with the nurse before she came back in here and make sure that the patient confidentiality is taken seriously."

Dean nodded, "Just do it, I don't want to deal with it healin wrong. Just get it done."

Sam nodded and grabbed some towels and a bottle of water Bobby had brought him last night. "This is gonna hurt Dee."

Dean nodded and braced himself as Sam started to clean his feathers. After a few minutes he shifted to the wound and Dean grunted.

"Sorry, I'm trying to be careful but some of this stuff is stuck in here pretty good..." Sam said, cleaning out the last bit. "Okay, I'm going to reset the bone. I grabbed some gauze from the cabinet to wrap it with but you gotta keep your wing still. At the count of three." He shoved the bone back into place and Dean bit back a shout, not wanting to alert the nurses. "Sorry, sorry." Sam said, quickly wrapping the wound before stepping to the side to help Dean lay back on his wings. If he didn't lay just right he could end up hurting himself again.

"Alright, it should be good in a day or two since it's set now." Sam said, "Get some sleep, I'm gonna go talk to the nurse and explain what's going on."

Dean nodded, leaning back into the pillow before shooting up, "Sammy!"

Sam whipped around, "What? Are you alright?!"

"Where's Emma?" Dean asked, starting to get up, wincing as the chest tube in his side shifted.

"She's fine. She's staying with a friend until you get out of the hospital."

"Who's she with? Are you sure she's alright?" Dean asked, laying back.

"I'm positive Dean. You know I wouldn't let her stay with someone I didn't think could take care of her. Besides, Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Ash, and Jess all agreed with who's taking care of her." Sam said, "Now go to sleep before I have them knock you out. Setting that bone probably took a lot more out of you than you think. I'll wake you up here in a few hours so you can eat."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine, but there better be pie!"

Sam nodded, "Sure, I'll get you some pie, as long as the doctor say's it's alright for you to eat it."

"Pie makes me heal faster. It's a healing food Sam. Tell the doctor that!" Dean yelled as Sam walked out the door. "Love me some pie." He muttered, closing his eyes as he leaned back into the pillow. Shutting his eyes for a few moments wouldn't hurt anything, would it?

XXXXX

Dean rolled his eyes as the nurse brought a wheelchair into his room, "I don't need one, I can walk."

Crowley sigh, "Bloody Winchesters. You have to leave the hospital in the wheelchair, you don't have to go any further than the front doors if you don't want to. Now, you should have remained in the hospital for another two days to make sure you're back at a hundred percent but considering you've done good in the respiratory therapy and your strength building, I'm allowing you to leave early as long as you promise that you will rest at home for two weeks at least. You can return to lifting heavy objects and strenuous activity in three to four months. After you have rested at home for two weeks you can return to part time work but I would suggest taking time each day to do some breathing exercises. Just because your lung is healed it doesn't mean that everything is. You will remain short of breath for the next couple of months and if it persists past that you should return to the hospital as soon as possible for a check up. Other than that, I expect to see you in four months for a check up to see if your breathing is back to normal."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Thank's doc, but I'm pretty sure I can jump back on the bandwagon now."

"I doubt that. I informed your brother and his fiancee about the guidelines I have given you and they have informed me that they will make sure you follow them." Crowley said, smirking at Dean, "Good luck, Dean."

Dean glared at Crowley as he walked out. He walked over to the nurse and sat in the wheelchair, crossing his arms and glaring at everyone they passed on the way out. As soon as the door came into view he got ready to jump out of it.

He spotted Baby right outside the door, Sam standing beside it. "Baby!"

He jumped out of the wheelchair and made his way over to his beloved Impala, caressing the hood with a loving look in his eye.

"Benny, Ash, and Bobby have been working to get her back in perfect condition for when you were released. She's got a new paint job, a new drivers door and window, along with some new interior on the door." Sam said, getting into the passenger seat. He'd ridden with Dean when Dean had been drinking, him on a high dosage of Ibuprofen would be nothing new.

Dean grinned, "They deserve the raise they're getting!" He cranked the ignition and closed his eyes as he heard her purr to life.

"Do I need to leave you two alone for a moment?" Sam asked, grinning at the familiar back and forth.

"Don't listen to him, Baby, we have something special." Dean said, stroking the steering wheel before gripping the shifter sticking out of the side of the steering column. "Let's go get Emma."

XXXXX

Dean walked up to the school, he knew there was only about ten minutes left of the school day but he couldn't wait to see his little girl. He hadn't seen her in _five_ days, could you blame him?

He knocked on the door and was surprised to see Bela open it.

She raised a brow, "Winchester, what are you here for?"

"Hey, Bela, nice to see you too. Didn't know that Ms. Talbot was you but I should've guessed." Dean said, "Anyways, I'm here to get my daughter."

Bela's eyes widened, "You have a daughter?"

Dean rolled his eyes and looked around Bela and saw Emma, smiling widely at her, "Emma!"

Emma looked up and spotted him. "Daddy!" She got up and ran over to him, tackling him into a hug that caused Dean to wince but say nothing to her about it. He pulled her into a big hug.

"Hey princess, have you been good this week?"

"Yes Daddy! Where have you been? Uncle Sam said that you were busy at work." Emma said, frowning.

"I'll tell you later. Why don't we go and get some ice cream?"

"Ice cream!"

Bela frowned, "Winchester, there is still time left in the school day and there is nothing saying that you can leave with Emma."

Dean glared at her, "Emma, get your things."

Emma nodded and went and grabbed her things from her desk.

"Is there a problem here?"

Dean and Bela turned to see a woman in a grey pantsuit with her hair back in a tight bun.

"Naomi."

"Principal."

"Dean, from what I last heard you were having Benny and Ash pick Emma up from school." Naomi said, frowning at him.

"Well, I haven't seen her in five days so I figured I'd come and get her today." Dean said, smiling as Emma walked back over to him and took his hand.

"Fine, I will allow it seeing how the bell will be ringing here in a moment. I expect you to have her back in class on Monday _on time_." Naomi said, turning and walking away.

Dean chuckled and looked down at Emma, "Come on, let's go get you some ice cream."

"Can we go to Sylas & Maddy's? Oh! Can we invite my friend too?" Emma asked, bouncing up and down. "We need to get my stuff too!"

Dean chuckled, "Of course princess. And Sammy's waiting at the house, he figured it would be alright for me to take you for ice cream alone so I dropped him at the house on the way."

Emma pouted, "Uncle Sam didn't want to come?"

"I think he just wanted to spend some time with your Aunt." Dean said, winking.

Emma giggled as they walked out the door. She looked up and spotted Claire and Castiel. "Ah! There she is!" She took off running, not letting go of Dean's hand.

Dean laughed as he was drug behind Emma. He looked to where she was headed and spotted Castiel and Claire. "Hey Cas!"

Castiel turned and spotted him and Emma. He had a look of confusion on his face.

"Hello Dean, Emma."

"Daddy said that it would be alright for me to ask if Claire could come and get ice cream with us!" Emma said, bouncing up and down.

"I don't see why not..." Castiel said, "She got good grades on her tests this week and summer vacation has just started for her..."

"Lucky! I still have two days of school left!" Emma said, pouting.

Dean chuckled, "It's not that bad Emma, besides, I'm gonna be pickin you up and droppin you off those days."

"Really?" Emma asked, turning to Dean and smiling. At Dean's nod, she squealed and hugged him again. "Yay!"

Castiel smiled, "I didn't realize that Emma was your daughter. I should have, considering she kept calling Sam her uncle..."

"Yeah, not many people see the resemblance and I usually have Benny or Ash get her. Lettin people know she's mine has been a hazard for a while but I'm guessin it's safe now so I'm gonna be showin up around town with her more often." Dean said, scratching the back of his head.

"Hey, Do you think Dad could come with us?" Claire asked, looking at Dean.

"I'm sure they don't want me to come along." Castiel said.

"Nah, it'll be fine Cas. Besides, with our kids bein such good friends, least we could do is get on friendly terms too." Dean said.

"Oh, alright..." Castiel said, blushing.

"We can take my car, that way we don't have to worry about two cars." Dean said, pointing back at the sleek, black impala. "She's a good ride and just got out of the shop!"

Castiel nodded, "Let me lock my car. We will come back and get her, won't we?"

"Course!" Dean exclaimed, watching as Castiel went and locked the doors to a Lincoln Continental.

"Cassie's car's called Cassandra, Daddy, he let me name it!" Emma said, smiling up at Dean.

"Did he now? Well, it's a fitting name for it. What made you choose Cassandra though?" Dean asked as he lead the three back to the car.

"Cause we can shorten it to Sandy!" Emma said, grinning widely as Dean started laughing.

Emma and Claire crawled into the back seat of the Impala as Castiel got into the passenger seat. He frowned at the box of cassettes on the floorboard, "What is this?"

Dean leaned over and picked up a cassette, showing him the front picture of a man in a school outfit with bright letters saying ACDC. "This is my classic rock collection. Best of the best!"

Castiel dug through the box as Dean backed out, "There's a lot in here..."

"Yup. I've listened to them all probably a hundred times each. Been listenin to them since I was born." Dean said, turning up the radio so the tones of Brian Johnson and Angus Young poured from the speakers.

Castiel listened for a few seconds before reaching for the volume knob, only to get his hand smacked by Dean. Castiel frowned at him and Dean smiled.

"Driver picks the music-" Dean started.

"Shotgun shuts his cakehole!" Emma echoed, finishing the sentence.

Castiel looked between the two before he started laughing, causing the others to follow along.

Yeah, they'd get along great.

 **Note** : I don't know if the ice cream place, Sylas & Maddy's, is still open or anything, I live in Arkansas, not Kansas. I googled ice cream shops and it popped up and I thought it would be better than TCBY or Coldstone mainly because it seems more like a family owned thing than a big corporation and I tend to root for the little shops and like them a lot more than the bigger shops. So, if the place isn't open anymore, and I hope to Chuck it is because it sounds awesome on their Facebook page, I'm sorry. I also think that some of the ice cream flavors have been changed but let's ignore that for now. Also, a link to hear the song that Emma listens to to go to sleep is a this youtu . be / euBtAlE44tY link. I thought it only appropriate to use the song that Jensen sings to JJ since it's a beautiful song.


	4. I Got You Smilin' Honey

**AN:: Don't own Supernatural or the books mentioned in this. Nor do I own the song Hey Jude.**

The group walked into Sylas & Maddy's and up to the counter.

"Hey guys, didn't think I'd see you three back in here so soon." The woman behind the counter said, smiling, "Who's this?"

"That's my Daddy!" Emma said smiling from her spot beside Dean.

"Really? Well I can see where you get your looks! Why don't we get you all some ice cream? What can I get you?" She asked.

Emma bounced up and down, "Can I get a scoop of Pumpkin pie in a cone?"

"Scoop of cookie monster for me please!" Claire said, moving to the glass separator in front of the ice cream.

"A scoop of chocolate chip if you don't mind." Castiel said, smiling at the woman.

"Ya still got apple pie? If so, I'd like a scoop of that." Dean said.

The woman nodded, ringing them up and taking the money from Dean when he handed it to her. She gave him the change as the man behind the glass handed the cones over to them.

"We're gonna go sit over here, ok dad?" Claire said, already dragging Emma over to a table near the wall.

Castiel frowned and looked over at Dean who shrugged and lead him over to a table by the window.

"Well then, how ya been, Cas?" Dean asked, "I mean, we haven't really been able to talk for the past few days. Thanks for takin care of Emma, by the way."

Castiel sighed, "Dean, it was not a problem, Emma was very polite and she's very smart. She helped Claire with her math homework."

Dean smiled brightly, "Really? That's great. That she was able to help that is..."

Castiel smiled, "Yes, well, it's a good thing Emma knows what it was talking about because I'm horrible at Math. I was more into the science aspect of school than anything else, though I was pretty good at English."

"I was decent at Math and Physics, shop class too. Other than that... I didn't do very good. Moved around a lot when I was younger and didn't really have a stable home life. Doesn't help that I'm dyslexic either." Dean said, sighing.

Castiel frowned, "Why didn't you have a stable home life? Weren't your parents around?"

"Not really. My mom died when I was little in a house fire and my dad... well, he didn't take it too well and started drinkin. He took up bounty huntin to try to kill the arsonist who set our house on fire... Dad died when I was nineteen but he left me and Sam by ourselves when I was seventeen. He left us with Baby luckily. I'd been helpin him with a lot of his hunts by that point too so I wasn't really out of a job. But I had to take care of Sam and then Emma. I ended up with three jobs at one point and dropped out of school. Anyways, enough about that. I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Tell me somethin about you."

"Well, I have three older brothers, they're technically triplets but look nothing alike, and a younger sister. My brothers used to torment me and Hannah but when our mother died the oldest of the triplets, Michael and Luke, ditched and Gabriel ended up taking care of us until we were old enough to leave. Hannah is now the sheriff of the Las Vegas Police Department. Michael works for the FBI and I have no idea where Luke is, he kind of dropped off the face of the Earth. I believe Gabriel is a teacher at a college but I can't remember which college." Castiel said as they finished their ice cream.

"What about your dad?" Dean said, frowning, "You haven't said anything about him."

"He's a drunkard and probably laying around in my childhood home up in Pontiac." Castiel said, sighing, "He was a drunk before mother died and he remained one after the fact. He still gets a decent income from a series of books he wrote."

"He's a writer?" Dean asked.

"He wrote the _Supernatural_ series. There's a decent sized following of the series and a few conventions but he only goes to them because he gets money from it. He's got a new girlfriend, Becky, who is helping him continue the series but I have no clue how that's going to end." Castiel rolled his eyes.

"It's pretty cool that he can write a series though." Dean said.

"I suppose..." Castiel muttered, "Do you read any books?"

"Well, it's a bit difficult for me to but I really enjoy Kurt Vonnegut. _Slaughterhouse Five_ is one of my favorites." Dean said, ducking his head down in embarrassment.

"Really? I wouldn't have taken you for a Vonnegut fan, I was thinking more of Ian Fleming." Castiel said, chuckling.

"Hey, Fleming is good but Vonnegut is classic. What's your favorite book?" Dean asked, leaning forward.

"If I had to choose one I would probably go with Gothe's _Faust._ " Castiel said, "Have you read it?"

"Can't say I have. What's it about?" Dean said.

"Oh it's brilliant. It's a story about a deal. The devil, Mephistopheles, makes a deal with God that he can corrupt Faust, a righteous man. Faust is trying to obtain infinite knowledge and suspects that he is failing and prepares to kill himself but is stopped by the Easter celebration. Faust makes an arrangement with the devil: the devil will do everything that Faust wants while he is here on Earth, and in exchange Faust will serve the devil in Hell. Faust's arrangement is that if he is pleased enough with anything the devil gives him that he wants to stay in that moment forever, then he will die in that moment.*

"The story is actually in two parts and the second part is in five acts and all represent a different theme and you learn what happened to Faust in the second part which takes place in the wide world instead of the small world like part one." Castiel finished.

"Sounds interestin, I'll have to check it out. Though it'll be a while before I finish it." Dean said, grinning.

"Then I'll read _Slaughterhouse Five_. If you have intentions to read my favorite book then I'll read your favorite book. It's only fair." Castiel said frowning. "Anyways, you asked me how I've been but I never returned the favor. How have you been Dean?"

"Well, I've been better." Dean said, chuckling, "Just got out of the hospital this afternoon."

"You were in the hospital? What for?" Castiel asked, concern in his voice.

"Well, you know how I mentioned that I used to be a bounty hunter? The man who killed my dad showed up at the shop as I was leaving Monday and shot me."

"You were shot?" Castiel said, looking Dean over.

"It wasn't that bad, really."

"You were in the hospital for five days, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes, "It's not the first time I've been shot and I doubt it'll be the last time. Besides, the worst spot I got his was my lung, that's the only reason I was in the hospital. Usually if I get shot I don't even go to the hospital and I have Sam patch me up or I patch myself up if he's not around. But yeah, had to talk to the cops about the shootin and everythin."

Castiel frowned, "What about the man who shot you? Is he going to prison?"

Dean's expression turned dark, "You don't want to know what happened to him, Cas."

"Dean," Castiel said, laying his hand on top of Dean's, "I'm not going to judge you for anything that you did. You had your reasons behind doing what you did..."

"I killed him. Stabbed him in the chest." Dean said, "He was threatenin to kill Jess in front of Sam and if he had known about Emma I'm sure he would've killed her too. He killed my dad and said he wanted the whole set. He was spyin on me at work and said that he knew about Sam and Jess' engagement so I knew he'd been there for a few hours. I didn't know if he was gonna go after them as soon as he killed me or if he was gonna go after Benny and Ash. I'd say that I regret killin him, but I don't. I know that bein a bounty hunter doesn't give me a good reason to kill someone, it's not a good reason to me or the man upstairs. But I'm hopin that I'll be forgiven for protectin my family."

Castiel frowned, "Dean, no one is going to judge you for wanting to protect your family. There will be a lot of people who will judge you for what you have done but you're just protecting yourself and your family. It's quite admirable. Your willingness to protect your family is astounding. I know people who wouldn't even think about saving their family if it meant they had to die. Do not shoulder this guilt, Dean. You don't deserve it."

Dean chuckled, "You're too nice, Cas. People round here like talkin about me behind my back all the time. Think I can't hear them but I can. I'm sure people are gonna start treatin Emma differently now that they know I'm her Dad. It's what happened with Sam and in Emma's other schools."

"Other's may treat her differently now, that's true, but the one's worth keeping are the one's who don't think of her any differently." Castiel said, frowning at Dean, "And Claire will remain her friend. Claire sees Emma like a little sister, talks about her all the time."

Dean smiled, "Thanks, Cas."

"Daddy?"

Dean looked to the side to see Emma standing there, Claire just behind her, "Hey princess, you done?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let's get back to the car." Dean said, wincing as he stood up.

XXXXX

"So, we'll follow you back to your house to get Emma's things. If that's alright with you that is." Dean said as he parked beside Castiel's car.

"That will be fine." Castiel replied, "We don't live far from here."

Dean nodded and watched as Castiel and Claire took off in the Lincoln.

He followed close behind and frowned as they got closer and closer to his street and when Castiel pulled into the driveway of a two story house with a tree that looked burnt in an area, Dean couldn't help but follow and slowly get out of the car.

Emma bounced over to Claire and started talking but Castiel looked back at Dean and frowned.

Dean was looking at the tree with a fond smile on his face. He could remember being little and John pushing him on their old swing, even the few times Dean had been playing with his toy trucks while Mary had been pregnant and had taken the swing for herself.

He could still remember her and John laughing as he pushed her on the swing and even him running over to his parents and helping John push Mary higher. There had been times when they had just come out and sat under that tree and enjoyed each others company. John playing the guitar, something that one of his coworkers at the shop had taught him to do, and Mary singing and him trying to sing along while his parents laughed. He remembered John trying to teach him a few notes and him failing at it horribly, he had only turned four recently and Sammy had been curled up on the blanket sleeping away.

"Dean?" Castiel asked, placing a gentle hand on Dean's shoulder and knocking him out of his thoughts.

Dean looked over at Castiel, blinking, "Huh, oh, hey Cas. What's wrong?"

"Claire and Emma have already gone in. I was wanting to ask something before we went in..." Castiel looked down at the ground for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts before looking Dean in the eyes, "I would like it if you would join me for dinner tomorrow, if you are available, that is."

Dean blinked, "Are you asking me out?"

Castiel frowned, "I believe that is exactly what I'm trying to do." He tilted his head, "Though if you don't 'swing that way' then I take my statement back but I assumed from the few talks that we had and then the talk over the ice cream today..."

"I'd like to go on a date with you, Cas." Dean said, scratching the back of his head, "It just threw me off havin someone ask me out and not the other way around."

"You've never had someone ask you out before?" Castiel asked, "Well, then it's an honor to be the first one to request your presence." He smiled, letting Dean know he was joking.

Dean rolled his eyes, a grin on his face, "Ya nerd." He threw an arm around Castiel's shoulders, "So, where you plannin to eat?"

Castiel and Dean headed to the front door, Castiel explaining the plan to go to a restaurant called _The Mad Greek_ , ' _Their burgers are really good, Dean_ ', and mentioning maybe going for a walk after.

As they walk into the house the wide, happy smile that was on Dean's face fades into a melancholic one as he looks around.

"The place looks great Cas." Dean says, looking at the kitchen as he remembers his mom making pie for him and his dad. He remembered hugging her after a pretty intense fight between her and John before they ate a whole pie.

"Dean," Castiel said, seeing the look on his face, "are you sure you're alright? Would you like a cup of water?"

Dean nods, "S-sure Cas, that'd be great."

He followed Castiel into the kitchen and sat down at the island, plopping into the barstool. Castiel looked at him out of the corner of his eye as he filled a couple cups with water from the tap. He set the cup down in front of Dean and took a seat beside him.

"What's wrong?" Castiel asked.

Dean looked up at him and chuckled, "What makes ya think somethin's wrong?"

Castiel cocked a brow, "Really? You've been coming into my shop everyday for nearly two weeks now and we've talked for hours those times you've come in. It may not have been a long time but I've noticed how to tell when you're upset about something; and you're upset."

Dean smirked and rubbed a hand down his face, "Ya know, Sammy used to pull the same thing on me when we were growin up. Used to always stare at me when he thought somethin was wrong and he had these big eyes back then, puppy dog eyes, even worse back then than it is now. He'd get me talkin after a few minutes starin. Always tried to start somethin before the starin too. I always tell him no chick flick moments when he want's to talk about feelin's and shit."

Castiel rolled his eyes, "Probably because if you let all of that build up then it releases at the wrong time. Now, I'm not letting you walk out of here until you tell me what's wrong."

Dean sighed, "Look, Cas, I don't like talkin about these things."

"Well, you need to." Castiel said, "You've been acting strange since you walked in here and I'm curious as to why. This is the first time that you've been here so I don't know what could be causing the personality shift."

Dean looked over at Castiel for a few moments, "I used to live here." Castiel frowned at him and opened his mouth but Dean cut him off, "It was back when I was four, so it's been a while. I used to live here with my mom and dad. Sammy only lived here for a few months after he was born."

"So you were acting weird because of this?" Castiel asked, frowning.

Dean chuckled, "Nah, just... Outside there used to be a tire swing on the tree and every Saturday my parents would go outside with a picnic basket and we'd sit under the tree and eat and dad would play the guitar and mom would sing Beatles songs." He sighed, "When Sammy was born we stopped for a bit. Didn't start up again until about four months after he was born and it wasn't long after that when mom died."

Castiel looked at Dean sadly and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Sammy's been tryin to get me to talk about it for years and I'm still not ready to talk about all of it." Dean explained.

"Well, what else did you guys do? You don't have to tell me anything, but your parent's sound lovely." Castiel said softly.

"Mom was." Dean said, a grin on his face, "Her name was Mary and she was the greatest. Made the best pies in the world and loved the Beatles. She use to sing me and Sammy _Hey Jude_ instead of a lullaby and she had the prettiest voice."

Castiel smiled, "She sounds beautiful."

"She was..." Dean said with a sigh, "But she ended up with Dad. They use to have fights and I'd come into the kitchen and pull her outta the funk Dad put her in but he'd always come home and they'd work it out somehow. They loved each other more than anythin and I always think that's why dad did what he did."

"What do you mean?"

"Turned into a bounty hunter. Mom used to be one but got out of it when she met dad. Always told him that she didn't want her kids grownin up in it. Think he thought she'd come back just to kick his ass." Dean explained.

"Is that how you ended up in it?" Castiel asked, "Because of your father?"

"Yeah, I used to blame him for all the shit in my life but he was just a man who was dealt a shit hand and did his best with us kids." Dean said, "I might've missed out on a couple things but I did my best to do what my dad told me; protect Sammy." He finished off his water and pushed himself up out of the chair, "I should probably get Emma. Sam and Jess are probably wonderin where we're at."

Castiel stood up, knowing Dean wasn't going to discuss the subject anymore, "I'll take you up to Claire's room."

Dean nodded before giving Castiel a cocky grin, "So, I'll pick you up at six?"

Castiel smiled, "Of course. Do you think Sam would mind watching Claire tomorrow?"

"I'll talk to him about it. I'm sure it won't be a problem." Dean said as they headed up the stairs.

Castiel chuckled as he turned down the hall and stopped in front of Claire's door, "I'm sure."

He knocked on the door, opening it a moment later and stepping inside, "Emma, do you have your things?"

Dean stepped up beside him and looked in before freezing. Claire's room was Sam's old nursery, the room Mary had died in.

Emma nodded, "Yup!" She looked over at Dean and frowned, "Daddy?"

Castiel looked over at Dean and frowned when he noticed Dean frozen in the doorway. He placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, "Dean, are you alright?"

Dean blinked a few times before nodding, "Y-yeah, I'm alright."

XXXXX

Castiel walked Emma and Dean to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow Dean, Emma."

"Bye, Cassie!" Emma said, getting into the Impala.

Dean gave Castiel a small smile and wave before getting into the car too.

As they drove the short distance to their house, Castiel watched, Claire joining him.

"Is Dean okay? He was acting weird..." Claire said, looking up at Castiel.

"I'm not sure Claire." Castiel said, turning and going back inside, "He said that this was use to be his house and mentioned his family but that was all. Why?"

"He use to live here?" Claire asked, frowning, "Really? Wonder why he sold the place."

Castiel shrugged, "No idea, Claire. Now come on, we should get something made for dinner."

"Alright Dad."

XXXXX

Dean opened the door for Emma, letting her walk in ahead of him. He nodded to Jess and walked into the kitchen where Sam was digging around in the fridge. "Sammy."

Sam turned around, "Dean, hey, how wa-" He frowned when he noticed Dean's mood, "Are you alright?"

Dean sighed and walked up to Sam and dropped his head onto Sam's chest.

Without a word, Sam put his arms around Dean and gave him a hug, looking up when he noticed Jess in the doorway and shaking his head. Jess nodded and backed away from the door. Sam heard Jess ask Emma about a movie in the background.

"Dean, you wanna talk about it?"

At Dean's head shake, Sam sighed, "Well, then how about helping with dinner."

Dean snorted, "You makin food? How about no. I'm a warrior, Sammy, I can't-"

"Live off rabbit food, I know." Sam said, rolling his eyes with a smile as Dean pulled away and grabbed some hamburger from the fridge.

"Gonna make some spaghetti and I guess you can make a salad or somethin." Dean said, motioning towards the fridge.

As they got to work on dinner Sam decided to make some small talk, "How'd your date go with Cas?"

"What makes you think it was a date?" Dean asked, looking over his shoulder.

"You were supposed to pick Emma up and head back but you returned two hours late." Sam replied, pointing the knife at him, "And don't try to bullshit me, I'll get the answer out of you eventually."

Dean rolled his eyes before stepping away from the stove, letting the sauce simmer, "It wasn't really a date. Emma wanted to go get ice cream and wanted to invite her friend. Turns out it was Claire and they both asked if Cas could join us so I said alright. We got ice cream and I took them back to their car and followed them to their house. Me and Cas talked a bit and then we left."

"You're leaving a few things out there, Dean."

Dean leaned back against the counter, a small grin on his face, "Cas asked me to go for dinner tomorrow and I agreed."

Sam grinned, putting the chopped ingredients into a bowl and turning, "That's great! You've been pinning after him since you met him."

"I have not!"

"Benny and Ash say otherwise." Sam replied with a chuckle.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Bitch."

"Jerk. Now, what else is bothering you." Sam said, frowning, "You never instigate a hug like that unless something really bothered you."

Dean sighed and turned back to the sauce, stirring it. "I don't want to talk about it, Sam."

Sam sighed, "Dean, come on. You know when we don't tell each other things that bad things happen."

Dean rolled his eyes, "That happened one time, Sam, and I'm pretty sure that Bobby nearly beat the shit out of me for that one."

"Dean, you were fourteen and you went out on a bounty by yourself. We didn't know where the hell you were and if Rufus hadn't found you, you'd be dead. Now, tell me what's bothering you." Sam said.

Dean looked back at Sam before looking back down at the bubbling sauce, turning the heat down, "Cas bought the house."

Sam frowned, "What house?"

"Our house, Sammy, the one mom died in." Dean said, "Was the first time I was in there since it happened; didn't even go in there when they were fixin it up. Claire has your old room... Hadn't seen that room since Dad handed you to me and told me to get my ass outside. Never saw mom but I've heard enough of Dad's drunken ramblins to know what happened and piece it together. Had nightmares about it for months after that."

Sam felt his eyes burning as he walked up behind Dean, "Dee..."

"It's horrible, Sammy..." Dean whispered, "Soon as I saw that room again... it all just hit me."

Sam felt a tear slip down his face as he turned Dean around and pulled him into a hug, "Dee... thank you." He felt Dean try to pull away, "Look, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be here. I never knew you were the one who pulled me out of there."

"Been protectin you since day one, Sammy. It's my job." Dean said before pushing Sam away, "Now, quit with the chick flick moment. Get the plates out of the cabinet and set them on the table. Spaghetti's done."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright."

Dean chuckled and turned back to the stove, pulling things off. Why worry about nothing anyways?

XXXXX

 _"Mary!"_

 _Dean shot up in bed at the scream, he'd never heard something as sorrowful as that one word. He threw his blankets off and ran down the hall to his brothers room, seeing the flashes of shadows on the wall, his fathers_ _outline and the outline of a crib, but no mother._

 _"Dad?"_

 _As he neared the door to the room, though, he heard the voice change. Suddenly, it wasn't John's voice yelling, it was Sam's._

 _"Jess! Jessica!"_

 _He round the corner to see Sam laying on the bed, looking at the ceiling in pain and horror. He looked up to see Jess pinned to the ceiling, fire all around her, burning her skin and hair away, the stench of burnt flesh burning his nose, blood on her stomach where it had been sliced open, the dark liquid pouring from it onto a small body on the floor._

 _He rushed into the room and grabbed Sam, "Sam, come on, we gotta get out of here!"_

 _As he was pushing Sam towards the door he looked back and noticed who it was on the floor, "Emma..."_

 _He turned to rush back into the room but Sam pulled him back, "She's dead Dean! They're both dead!"_

 _Dean turned and looked at Sam to see tears in his eyes and closed his as he felt them burning, "We need to get outside, Sammy."_

 _When he didn't hear a response he opened his eyes to see a knife sticking out of Sam's throat and blood pouring from his mouth, "D-Dee-"_

Dean shot up in bed with a scream on the tip of his tongue but it never escaped. He felt tears rolling down his face and he couldn't stop it when the sobs started to escape along with a soft clicking noise. He felt his wings flare out and wrap around him, the pain in his wing nothing compared to the nightmare he had had. He needed his brother.

XXXXX

Sam sat up in bed, looking around the room. He knew he had heard something but he didn't know what.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Jess asked, rolling over and rubbing her eyes.

"I... thought I heard something." He responded, tilting his head to the side. Then he heard it again, the soft clicking. He threw his blankets off and got out of bed, running to the door and throwing it open.

"Sam?!" Jess yelled, getting out of bed and following him. She saw as he went into Dean's room and frowned as she heard a cooing noise. When she rounded the corner into the room she nearly screamed to see her fiance and soon to be brother-in-law with huge wings sprouting out of their backs.

"Jess, I'll explain later," Sam said as he climbed onto the bed and struggled to open Dean's wings, cooing again, "Can you get me the pills in the bathroom cabinet on the top shelf?"

She nodded and hurried into Dean's bathroom and grabbed the pills, along with a cup of water. She stood to the side as Sam finally got the wings away from his older brother.

"Dee?"

Dean looked up, tear tracks on his face, "Sammy?" He pulled Sam into a hug and started sobbing again.

"It's alright, Dee. I'm here."

"You were dead..." Dean whispered, "Jess and Emma too..."

Sam tensed up and looked over at Jess to see tears in her eyes. "What are you talking about, Dee?"

"Nightmare." Dean said, sniffing, "Dad was screamin bout mom then it was you screamin and Jess on the ceilin like mom and Emma was dead and then you had a knife in your throat an-"

Sam shushed Dean and pulled him back into a hug, rocking a little and pulling his wings up next to Dean's soothingly. "It's alright, Dee. We're okay, nothing's going to hurt us."

Dean nodded and hugged Sam closer.

Sam looked over at Jess and motioned to the pill bottle. Jess looked at it and pulled two pills out of the bottle and handed them to Sam along with the water.

"Dee? Dee. You think you can manage to take these for me? They'll help you sleep. I'll stay here while you sleep too."

Dean nods and grabs the pills, popping them in his mouth and taking a swig of water.

It's not long before his eyes are glassy and he's starting to nod off.

"I'm going to stay here with Dean tonight, Jess." Sam said, looking back at her, "He should be fine now."

Jess nodded, "If you're sure, Sam. Yell if you need anything."

"Alright." Sam said, moving to lay down with Dean in his arms.

As Jess close the door she heard Sam start to softly sing, " _Hey Jude... don't make it bad..._ "

She could only hope that Dean would be better in the morning.

 _Note: *= taken from the wikipage for Gothe's Faust. I have read the book but it's been nearly five years and I can't remember everything. This seemed to wrap it up pretty well. I also feel like this would be a book Castiel would read mainly because it is a book about the battle between good and evil and ultimately ends with neither really winning and the realization that good and evil battle every day and that there is a deeper meaning behind everything. It seems like something that would interest him mainly because Faust messes up a lot but he eventually still arrives in Heaven. Also, Cas' opinion on Dean killing someone; it's mainly my opinion. I feel like it could be forgiven if you were protecting your family from someone. I'm not saying it's right, not at all. Killing someone is never right. But I feel like it's more understandable if you think about it from the point of view of a bounty hunter._


	5. Your Kiss Just Said It All

**Chapter Title: Your kiss just said it all**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Supernatural characters**

 **Previously on Honey Bee**

" _Hey Jude... don't make it bad..._ "

Sam woke up the next morning to Dean curled up next to him, his head buried in Sam's neck. With a sigh, he slowly maneuvered himself out of the strong grip, managing not to wake Dean from years of experience.

He grabbed his phone and checked the time, seeing it was just past nine, before walking downstairs. Emma was sitting on the couch watching _Star Wars_ while he could hear Jess in the kitchen. Considering it was a Saturday, he wasn't surprised to see that they had woken up so late.

He stepped into the kitchen and walked up to Jess, laying his head on her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Mornin'." He muttered, still feeling tired.

"Good morning, Sam. Is Dean still asleep?" She asked, turning her head to kiss the top of his.

He sighed, "Yeah, he'll wake up soon but I can't promise how he'll act. It's been a while since he's had one of these dreams and him being injured doesn't really help. We've both been avoiding the old house and now that Dean's in a relationship with Cas, apparently, he's going to be dealing with this a lot more." He pulled back and took a seat on a barstool, "I don't know how he's going to get through this all. He bottles up his feelings a lot and he's never talked about what exactly happened when he was younger. I know that there was a fire and our mom died in it and Dean carried me out while Dad tried saving her but other than that... I don't really know. I don't have any memories of our mom but Dean talks about her a lot when he's feeling down."

Jess sighed and placed a plate of waffles down in front of him with some coffee, "He'll talk about it when he's ready I suppose. Just have to wait till he's ready." She took a seat in front of him, "Now, what the hell was that last night? I didn't know you two had wings?"

Sam chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah... remember when Dean was in the hospital and Bobby and I were discussing the relationship me and Dean have? Well, we were genetically modified and they gave us some bird DNA. It's not much; mainly we have lighter weight bones and wings, also able to communicate to each other with noises at points, usually only in times of distress, which is what we were doing last night. We can fly, though Dean doesn't really care for it since he hate's flying, no matter what. We've been able to take our wings out around puberty or so and Emma has wings as well, she's just not old enough to take them out. It's what the tattoo is. The doctor's somehow figured out how to hide them like that and it worked. It's iffy if the DNA is passed to the child though. Emma has wings but her half-brother, Ben, doesn't.

"It's something that Dean and I are wary about though... we don't tend to take them out and show people we don't trust. They're sensitive to pain, even though they heal a lot faster than the rest of us. But every once in a while I can convince Dean to come fly with me and it's nice. I don't really know how to explain it fully in all honesty."

Jess nodded, "So, it's because of the genetics that the doctors did when you two were younger? Did your parent's know exactly what was going to happen to you two when they gave up their DNA?"

"Not that I know of. Dean would probably be able to answer that better. From what I understand, they were threatening mom and had kidnapped her from home and wouldn't let her go unless she agreed to it." Sam said, poking at his waffles.

"That's horrible!" Jess exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand in shock.

"They're not really nice doctors, in all honesty. I looked up a few of their names when I first made it to Stanford and found out that what they did was immoral and that they were on the wanted list. Most of them had been killed by other bounty hunters or they just died but there's a few that managed to get away." Sam explained, "The reason that I wanted to become a lawyer is so that I could put people like that behind bars and help the people who don't have a voice. There's people who are victims of things like that and various other things that aren't able to get the money they need for a lawyer and I'd like to try helping them."

Jess smiled softly and placed her hand on top of Sam's, squeezing it, "I understand, Sam. Now, I'm going to go to the shop. I don't think you or Dean should go there today, Dean because of various reasons and you because you're tired. I'm going to get some of the paperwork Dean needs to fill out. Benny messaged me and told me there was a pretty decent stack there in the office. I'll bring it back and you two can fill it out and get it out of the way. Why don't you go back to bed?"

Sam shook his head, "I'll just sleep in the recliner, that way if Emma needs anything while you're gone she can wake me up. Thanks for doing this, Jess."

"I'm your fiance, Sam." She said with a smile, leaning over and kissing him, "Now, go get some sleep."

XXXXX

It was a few minutes after Jess left that Dean woke up. He felt like shit, usually a sign that he'd taken a Valium or something.

He remembered everything from last night and couldn't suppress the sigh. That nightmare had been horrible but wasn't really anything new. Jess had started showing up in it a year after her and Sam had started dating. They had stopped two years ago, when he officially gave up the hunting life. Maybe it was just because he had killed Gordon that it showed up again? He didn't know.

Throwing the blankets off of him, he pulled himself out of bed. He stripped his clothes off before throwing a pair of sweats and a sweater on. He felt cold, though he knew it was just a leftover feeling from the dream.

With a sign, he walked down the stairs. He should probably eat something but food sounded disgusting at the moment. He knew that if he tried to eat it would just taste bland, no matter how much he loved the food he was eating. Hell, he didn't even feel like taking his meds, the pain wasn't really bothering him anyways.

He looked into the living room to see Sam asleep in the recliner and Emma on the couch with a blanket around her watching _Empire Strikes Back_.

He went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water, taking his antibiotics, before going into the living room. He nudged Emma a little before laying down on the couch and pulling her into a hug where they could both watch the movie.

He didn't feel like talking and Emma knew that and he was glad.

Maybe _Star Wars_ would cheer him up.

XXXXX

Jess pulled up to the shop and got out of the car. It didn't seem to be too busy, considering she could see Ash playing Solitaire on his computer and Benny and Bobby were talking over an engine.

"Hello!" She said as she walked into the shop.

"Jess, what're you doin here?" Bobby asked, looking up.

"I told her to come and get the paperwork Dean needs to fill out. Figured that'd keep him out of our hair for a bit and make sure he gets somethin done." Benny said, walking over to the office and coming out with a stack of paperwork. "It should take him a couple of days to get through it all."

"Well, I doubt he'll be working on it any today but I'm sure he'll enjoy the distraction." Jess said, taking the paperwork from Benny and placing it into her purse carefully.

Bobby frowned at that, "What happened?"

Jess sighed, "Dean had a nightmare last night. Apparently it had something to do with how Mary died. Sam, Emma, and I all died in it as well from what I heard before the Valium knocked him out. Sam's staying at the house to make sure Dean's alright today but he should be in to help tomorrow."

Bobby grimaced, "Tell him don't worry about it. If Dean needs him there then he can stay there. This shop's been runnin with three people workin here for the past two years, I'm sure it'll be fine with three people workin here for the next few weeks."

Jess chuckled, "I'll be sure to tell him, but knowing Sam, he'll show up anyways."

"There ain't no stoppin that boy when he sets his mind on somethin." Benny said, shaking his head.

"That's true, but that's why I love him." Jess said with a smile, "And besides, Dean should be fine later tonight. He has a date to go on."

"Oh?" Ash said, finally joining the conversation, "Who with?"

"Cas, the flower shop owner. Apparently he asked Dean to dinner last night." Jess said, "That was after they had went and gotten ice cream with Emma and Claire."

"Second date already, nice." Ash said with a wide grin, "Now I got somethin to harass him about."

Bobby rolled his eyes, "Idjits. Jess, it was good seein ya but we gotta get back to work. The customer's comin for their car in a few hours and we still haven't fixed it yet."

"Alright. Well, I'll see you all later!" Jess said, turning around and heading back to her car.

Maybe she should go by the store and get some groceries?

XXXXX

By the time Jess had returned Sam was awake again and they were finishing _Return of the Jedi_.

"Hey guys, Claire's here!" Jess said as she walked in with a few bags, Claire trailing behind with her backpack and a few more bags.

"Hey Claire." Sam said, getting up and stretching before trailing after Jess into the kitchen.

Emma sat up and looked over at Claire, "Claire! We're watching _Star Wars_ , come watch with us!"

Claire walked over and dropped into the chair Sam had vacated before looking over at Dean, "Don't you have a date in an hour?"

Dean blinked in confusion before his eyes widened and he shot up on the couch, only to fall back against it with his face scrunched in pain and a grunt being forced from his lungs.

Emma got up and ran into the kitchen, getting Sam who came running in.

"Dean, you alright?" Sam asked, kneeling in front of his brother who still looked to be in pain.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Dean said, more trying to convince himself than the others.

Sam frowned before he reached over and started to pull Dean's sweater up. "Did you take your meds today?"

"Y-yeah." Dean replied, breathing through grit teeth.

"All of them? Including your pain meds?" Sam asked, raising a brow. When Dean didn't answer, Sam rolled his eyes, seeing that the wound on his side was inflamed, "That's why you're hurting so much you idiot. The pain pills are for a reason. I know you felt like crap this morning but you still should've taken them."

"Wasn't hurtin then." Dean muttered, relaxing against the couch as the pain subsided.

Sam rolled his eyes and helped Dean up, tossing his arm over his shoulder, "Emma, could you ask Jess for Dean's pain pills?"

She nodded and returned shortly after with the bottle in her hand. She gave it to Sam, "Thank you, Emma. I'm gonna take Dean upstairs, we'll be back down in a little while, alright?"

They headed upstairs and Jess sighed before digging out the phone, "Claire? What's your fathers number?"

Claire walked into the kitchen, Emma following behind her, "I can type it in." She took the offered phone and quickly typed in the number before passing it back to Jess, "What are you calling him for?"

"I'm going to ask if he would be able to come over here instead of Dean getting him, otherwise they'll be late." Jess said as Cas picked up the phone, "Castiel? It's Jess."

The conversation went on for a few minutes and by the end Cas had agreed to come over to the house.

XXXXX

"Dean, don't complain. You did this to yourself." Sam said, glaring at his brother who was sitting in the shower stall on a small seat that was built into it.

"You don't have to bathe me, Sam. I can clean myself." Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, you could, but you nearly ripped open your wounds again and I need to check your wings. I doubt you managed to get all that blood out." Sam said.

Dean sighed and stood up and turned his back to Sam, opening his wings, "Fine, as long as they're the only thing you clean."

"Stop whining. It's not the first time I've seen you naked. Besides, anytime we got sick we'd bathe each other so deal with it."

"That was when we were sick though!" Dean complained, washing his hair.

Sam heaved a sigh, "Look, you're injured. You're getting my help unless you want me to have Jess come in, or maybe I'll call Cas up and tell him you need help with a shower."

Dean sputtered, turning to look at Sam, "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Dean sighed and slowly sat down on the edge of the shower's tub, letting Sam scrub at his wings, getting all the dried blood from the healed appendages.

"You know what you're going to wear?" Sam asked, trying to fill the silence.

"Not a clue. Probably my normal wear. It's just a date." Dean said, shrugging, wincing when he pulled at his shoulder wound.

"At least make sure there's no holes or grease stains. I know you have more clothes than we did growing up now." Sam said, taking the shower nozzle to rinse the wings, "I'm sure you'd be able to find something in the back of your closet covered in dust."

"Hey, I wear clean clothes often! Not that many have stains or holes anymore..." Dean said, turning off the shower head as he stepped out and grabbed a towel, drying himself off, "Besides, what do you care for? The first time Cas met me I was covered in grease."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Well, I was hoping that he might be able to be your date to the wedding."

"You guys decided on a date so quickly?"

"More like Jess has a date in mind and it's been in her mind since she was young and I don't care as long as you and a few others can be there. We're planning on four months from now." Sam said, " I was also wanting to ask something..."

"What is it Sammy?" Dean said, towel now wrapped around his waist as he dug through his clothes for something to wear.

"I was wondering if you could do the music for the wedding. It'd mean a lot to me." Sam said, "I know you'll pick the perfect songs and all and there's only one or two requests that Jess has about the music..."

Dean turned and looked at Sam, "You want me to do the music for your weddin?"

"Yeah... if you don't mind that is." Sam said, scratching the back of his head and looking away.

Dean grinned and gave Sam a hug, "Of course I'll do the music, it'd be an honor."

Sam grinned, "Good, now get dressed. No matter how close we are it's weird for you to hug me when you're naked."

"Say's the guy who was just washin me." Dean said with a grin, turning around and dropping his towel.

"Gah!" Sam yelled, leaving the room in a hurry, "Jerk!"

"Bitch!" Dean called back, laughing as he pulled on his jeans and put a black t-shirt on with a blue button up over it.

He stepped into his boots and looked himself over before going back into the bathroom to brush his teeth and put on some cologne.

XXXXX

Cas stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door. He had to ask Jess the house number so he wouldn't accidentally walk up to someone else's home, though the black impala parked on the side of the street should have given it away.

He waited a moment as he heard footsteps walking towards the door.

It opened up to reveal Sam, "Hey Cas, what are you doing here? I thought Dean was picking you up from your house?"

"Jess asked me to come over. She said that it would be easier since Dean wasn't feeling well. Had I known I would have rescheduled." Cas said, frowning.

"Ah, he's just an idiot who forgot to take his pain pills today. He nearly opened his wounds a bit ago and I had to help him get cleaned up. Anyways, come in. Dean should be down in a minute or two." Sam said, stepping out of the doorway to let Cas in.

Cas stepped into the house and looked around. It wasn't decorated how he had first thought. The walls were a nice shade of tan with a darker brown for the trim. The floor was hardwood, hickory from the looks of it, and the furniture was shades of black and brown. All together, it looked nice and gave the room a warm feeling.

"Huh, Cas, thought I was pickin you up from your house?" Dean said, walking down the stairs, slinging his jacket on over his shoulders.

"Oh, well, Jess called and said that you weren't feeling well and asked if I could come over and we leave from here." He frowned, "But if you're not feeling well we don't have to go out tonight."

Dean waved him off, "Nah, I'm fine now." He looked over at Sam and Jess, "Hey, we're gonna head out. Make sure to keep an eye on Claire and Emma, don't let them trick you into anything!"

"Hey!" He heard Emma and Claire yell from the living room.

"We'll be back later, see ya!"

They walked out of the house and to the impala, "So, where's the restaurant anyways?"

Cas smiled and gave some quick directions as Dean pulled away from the house.

It didn't sound like it was too far.

XXXXX

He wasn't wrong, not really. But he forgot to add in the time it would take to get through the traffic at this time of day so they finally made the, normally ten minute trip, in about thirty. The good thing was he was able to educate Cas on some of the best music, in his opinion, and finding out that Cas knew _Metallica_ and knew all the words to a lot of their songs made him grin widely while his chest felt light, in a good way.

The parking at _The Mad Greek_ wasn't too bad and they were able to get in and get a table quickly.

"Hello and welcome to _The Mad Greek_ , what can I get you to drink?" The waiter asked, pulling out a pad and a pen.

"I'll have a coke."

"Tea please."

"I'll bring those right to you."

After the waiter left they looked over the menu for a few minutes until the waiter returned and set their drinks down. "Do you know what you'd like to order?"

Dean looked over to Cas before nodding, "Yeah, I'll have the bacon cheeseburger with a side of fries."

"I'll have the great American burger with fries as well."

The waiter jotted their order down and took their menus, "It will be out shortly."

After the waiter left Dean looked around the place, "Y'know, I've never actually been here before."

"I've been here a few times in the past few years. Claire really likes it and their food is really good. I remember you saying something about burgers and pie once so I thought you might enjoy it here." Cas said, smiling.

Dean grinned, "A man after my heart." He placed a hand on his chest and faked a swoon which caused Cas to laugh.

"So, how's business goin?" Dean asked after they stopped laughing.

"Well, it's still wedding season so I have some brides coming in every so often asking me about flowers and prices and so forth. I've managed to hook a few of them so I'll be busy in the next few weeks or so."

"Sounds rough."

"Not particularly. I enjoy what I do so I suppose, in a way, it doesn't really feel like work. I'm getting paid to do something I love and all that." Cas said, chuckling.

"That's gotta be great. I mean, being able to make people smile on an important day and everythin."

"It is really nice. But don't you do the same thing? You enjoy what you do and it makes people smile?"

Dean sighed, "Not really the same thing. I'm doin what I love, sure, but not many people appreciate it. I got a lot of people tryin to tell me how to do my job and others who googled things and think that's what's wrong with their vehicle and it's nowhere close to right and it gets tirin after awhile."

"But don't you have people who listen to you and take what you're saying into account?" Cas asked.

"Well... Yeah, there's a few people who are regulars from around the country who like comin to me. They have classic cars and they know I know what I'm doin and everythin. Some of them are real nice too and a few of them even have impalas. When it comes to those guys they refuse to take their cars anywhere else." Dean said.

"So you have customers you enjoy talking to and a few who are dicks?" Cas asked.

"Well, yeah."

"Dean, you do realize that most of the people I deal with on a regular basis are women who are getting married anywhere from six months to three days after they talk to me, right? No matter what you do, people are going to say you're doing it wrong or that they could do it better and for cheaper. What matters is that you have those people who are worth going through all the dicks for. I have a few regulars who I talk to all the time; most of them are actually men. Those regulars are the reason I keep my business up even when I have to deal with people who make me think that throwing it all away for a job in some cubicle would be better. The important thing is that you love what you're doing." Cas said, "Besides, you're going to get a break from all of that for a bit anyways. Sam told me that you can't return to regular work for about three months."

"Yeah, no strenuous activity till then is what Crowley said." Dean said, rolling his eyes, "But I'm gonna be able to go back to work here in a couple weeks. I just can't do any heavy liftin or stand for too long. Crowley said I gotta go to physical therapy for my lung too."

"That doesn't sound too bad. It's mainly just resting a lot and taking it easy. You can do that, can't you?" Cas asked, tilting his head.

"I'm not too good at sittin still for a long time. I need to have somethin to do."

"Then take care of Emma. Watch movies with her, take her to the park or something. There's plenty that you can do that won't hurt you." Cas said.

"I suppose you're right..." Dean muttered.

"Here's your food. Sorry that it took so long." Their waiter said as he set down a plate in front of each of them. "Enjoy."

Dean and Cas stopped talking as they focused on their food.

XXXXX

"So, tell me about your family. You've met most of mine already and I've only heard a bit about yours." Dean said, pushing his empty plate away.

Cas chuckled as he pushed his to the side, "Well, you know that I have three older brothers and a younger sister. Michael is the oldest of them all, older than Luke by an hour and older than Gabriel by an hour and a half. He's... stern. He has a way he wants everything done and won't allow anyone to get away unless it's done how he wants it done. I always think that's how he got into the FBI. I have no clue what he does in the FBI though. Luke... well, the best way I could describe Luke is that he's a dick. He would always pick on Hannah and I while Michael ignored everyone and Gabriel had to step in. Luke dropped off the face of the Earth a few years ago though. No clue where he is but he is alive, we know that much at least.

"Gabriel is the youngest of the three and he was more of a parent to Hannah and I than our real parents. Him and the others are about five years older than me so when our mom died and our dad left, Gabriel took it upon himself to raise us. Michael and Luke left as soon as the funeral was done but Gabe stayed behind. He's a trickster and he would always prank Michael and Luke and I think that's why they ignored him; if they didn't bother him then he usually didn't bother them. Gabriel did online college and managed to get a degree in law and teaching, last I heard he was teaching at an ivy league college.

"Hannah is only a year older than me but she is already the head of the police department. Growing up she idolized the cops and read law books for fun. We all thought she was going to go on to be a lawyer but she decided to enter the police academy and she was soon shipped off to Vegas. I get letters from her and Gabriel every so often and they tend to send presents on Christmas and birthdays but I haven't seen them since I moved here." Cas explained.

"Hannah sounds like Sam. He used to read law books all the time too." Dean said, before grinning, "You're kind of the black sheep in your family then?"

"Well, I suppose. Other than Luke and I everyone went into some form of law." Cas said, frowning, "I actually never realized that." He shrugged, "I suppose it doesn't matter now really. So, how about you? I've met your family but I don't really know them, aside from Jess, Sam and your parents."

"Well, there's Ellen and Jo; they run the Roadhouse which is also sort of a front for a bounty detection service. People call them a lot to find out if there's a bounty and where it is. They're the weird aunt and cousin I never had. Ash, he works in the back, he's a genius with computers but was kicked out of MIT. Him and Jo are datin, though no one really knows that yet.

"Bobby is the father figure I wish John had been. There were times John would drop me and Sam off at Bobby's house when he was out on a bounty and we were too young. Bobby taught me everythin I need to know about cars. He also used to take me and Sam to the park and let us stretch out a bit and he taught us how to play catch.

"Jody is sort of like our stepmom. Her and Bobby are together and she tends to get onto me and Sam a lot. She threatens to use her 'mom voice' and it's terrifyin sometimes. She moved to Lawrence about four years ago due to her husband and kid gettin murdered. Bobby took care of that bounty and that's how they started talkin.

"Benny was a friend in a high school me and Sam went to back when I was thirteen. Turned out that his dad was a bounty hunter and when he was killed Benny ended up ridin along with us and me and him became huntin partners up til I stopped huntin and opened the shop up. He's like a brother to me and Sam but he's not nearly as close as me and Sam are." Dean paused for a moment before taking a breath, "Benny is dating Lisa Braedon, one of my ex's. Me and her used to date about seven years ago and we broke up badly. I ended up getting her pregnant, which she never told me about until her and Benny showed up at the shop together one day with her kid, my son, Ben. We get along better now and are friends and I'm able to be there for Ben, which I'm happy about."

"What about Emma's mom?" Cas asked, frowning.

"Lydia? Not really proud of that one." Dean said, scratching the back of his head, "There was a month or so, not long after John died, when Sam and I really needed money. Lydia ended up payin me a lot of money, enough to get me and Sam through the next month, to have sex with her, gave me extra to not use a condom too. She paid me then left and about a year later Emma was dropped on the doorstep of the small apartment I'd rented. Turns out that Lydia had cancer and wasn't expectin to be able to get pregnant from what we did, it was meant to be her last hurrah, but she beat the cancer and had Emma and didn't want her so she signed all her rights over to me and ditched. I have no clue where she is."

Cas grimaced, "That's horrible."

"Yeah, but I got Emma out of it and I wouldn't change a thing." Dean said with a grin.

Cas shook his head at that and smiled at Dean, "You really do just roll with the punches, don't you?"

"Yup, it's worked for me so far, no use changin anything." Dean said, shrugging.

"Sirs?" They looked up to see their waiter, "The restaurant is closing soon."

They blinked and both checked the time. Dean whistled, "Holy shit, it's nine."

"We've been here for three hours?" Cas said, looking surprised.

"I'm sorry for disrupting you both." The waiter said before ducking away.

Cas took his wallet out and paid for the meal, Dean leaving the tip, before they walked out of the restaurant.

"We should probably get back." Cas said as they got into the impala. "The kids are probably worried."

Dean snorted, "I doubt it. Emma was marathonin _Star Wars_ so they're probably still watchin it and haven't even noticed how long it's been."

"I suppose..." Cas muttered as they moved through the nearly empty streets with ease, _Metallica_ playing in the background.

Dean rolled his eyes and threw his arm over the seat as he steered with one hand, "Don't worry, really. If you want I'll stop outside the house and you can get Claire before I drop you at your house. She doesn't have to stay over if you'd rather have her home."

Cas shook his head, "No, it'll be fine, really. I'm just not used to being away from her for so long. She's never really had a friend who wanted her to stay over so it's strange."

Dean nodded, "I get that. Up till I got shot, Emma hadn't stayed over anywhere. It was weird to be in the hospital and not have her and Sam there with me. They tend to camp in the hospital somewhere if I'm in there."

Cas shook his head, "The fact that you're used to them being in the hospital with you is worrying. Do you typically end up in the hospital?"

"Well, until I quit huntin, I was in the hospital often. Most of my bounties took care of the price of the hospital bill and such but I was mainly there for small things; a broken bone here or there and the occasional gunshot wound. If it was just a cut then I'd stitch it up myself." Dean explained, pulling up to Cas's house, "I'll walk you to your door."

Cas shook his head, "You don't have to, Dean, really, there's no need to turn the car off when you're going down three houses."

Dean pouted a bit, though he'd deny it if brought up later, "Are you sure? I really don't mind."

Cas smiled softly, "Thank you for the offer, but you don't need to." He wrote something out on a piece of paper and handed it over to Dean, "Here's my home number, I know you have my cell already but this is just in case. I enjoyed our date."

Dean grinned, "Well, I'm glad I could keep you company."

Cas chuckled and leaned over, pulling Dean into a short kiss, really just a pressing of lips, before pulling away to see Dean's shocked expression.

He grinned, "I look forward to our next date, Dean. Call me."

Dean watched as Cas stepped out of the car and went up to his house. He turned and waved to Dean as he stepped inside.

Dean blinked a few times before he grinned widely and pulled the impala back onto the road and pulled down to his own house. He'd gotten a kiss from Cas, and a _second_ date!

He turned the engine off, the grin still on his face, and unlocked the front door and stepped in to see Sam sprawled out on the couch with Jess laying on top of him and Emma and Claire in the recliners.

They looked over and saw the grin on his face.

"Have a good time I'm guessing?" Sam said, laughing at the blush he could see on his brothers face but the grin didn't disappear.

"Shut it, bitch."

"Jerk!"

 _Yeah_ , Sam thought, _the date sure as hell went great_.


	6. Thinkin' Bout Us

**AN:: So, I promised to have this out before the new episode and I'm a day late, sorry guys. TBH, I hope this chapter makes up for it. I'll be posting a longer one on my AO3, it includes the sex scene which is cut from this. If you don't want the sex scene or are too young (tbh, that's just peoples opinion, you wanna read it, go for it, because I can't tell you not to if you're underage) then feel free to read this version. I don't think the scene is too great tbh because I haven't written many sex scenes and there's not much that's going to be missed if you don't read it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Supernatural characters nor do I own the two songs that are featured in this chapter, those songs are owned by Blake Shelton and The Scorpions.**

It had been three months since Dean and Cas had officially started dating.

Sam and Jess had left for Stanford two months ago, after many reassurances from Castiel that he would make sure Dean rested and didn't strain himself. With the wedding prep going on and them still in college, they didn't need to worry about Dean running off and hurting himself again.

It helped that Sam and Jess had given Dean a very important job for the wedding.

He was in charge of the music.

"Cas, ya don't understand!" Dean said, sighing and plopping down onto the couch beside Castiel, "If I don't have the perfect songs then it'll ruin everythin! Not only that but I got some special ones I wanna play and I don't want them to throw everythin off so I gotta make the playlist flow right. I can't go from slow songs to upbeat all the sudden, there's gotta be a transition."

Castiel sighed and looked at Dean from the corner of his eye, "Dean, I'm sure whatever you pick will be alright. They wouldn't have put you in charge of the music if they thought that you wouldn't be able to take care of it."

"They're getting married in a month Cas." Dean groaned.

"Have you found a band to play?" Castiel asked, looking back down at his book. He and Jess had been discussing flower arrangements and he was looking up pricing and shipping rates. His little shop didn't have all of them, though most were there.

"Yeah, a buddy of mine has a band that's pretty good. I sent Sammy some of their music and he seemed to really like it." Dean said, sighing and leaning his head on Castiel's shoulder, "But I still wanna find some special songs for them."

Castiel sighed and placed a kiss on the top of Dean's head, "You'll figure it out. You always do."

Around that time, Emma and Claire stepped into the house.

"Dad!" Emma yelled, running into the living room and jumping onto the couch beside Dean, "We have a concert coming up at school and they said that we could sing a song with our parents if they wanted. Please!"

Dean blinked and looked over at Claire, who shrugged, "The choir teacher said it was alright, as long as there weren't too many. Only five people actually took a form."

"You didn't get one for Cas?" Dean asked, confused.

Castiel snorted, "I sound like a dying cat when I sing Dean, I doubt anyone wants to hear that."

Claire nodded, "It's true. Humming he can do, singing? Not so much, that's more Uncle Gabe's forte."

Emma looked up at Dean again and tugged on his shirt, giving him the puppy eyes that she had learned from Sam, "Please Daddy?"

Dean cursed Sam for teaching her that, sighing, "Alright, I'll sing a song with you, but it has to be one we agree on."

"Yay!" Emma shouted, throwing her arms around Dean, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"When's the concert anyways?" Dean chuckled and hugged her back.

"It's in two weeks!" Emma said, smiling.

Dean nodded, "Why don't you and Claire go up to your room and do your homework? I'll get dinner ready."

"Okay! Come on, Claire!"

"Claire, we'll be leaving in a few hours to go back home. Make sure you have all your things before we leave." Castiel said, looking back at his book.

"Right dad." Claire said, rolling her eye and following Emma upstairs.

"Sometimes I wonder if it was a good idea for you to put Emma in the same middle school as Claire." Castiel said with a sigh.

"Eh, it'll be good for them. Besides, that means they can get off at the same bus stop and Claire and her can walk home from there." Dean said, pushing himself up off the couch. "Anyways, wanna help with dinner? It's gonna be spaghetti."

Castiel nodded, putting his books on the coffee table and following Dean into the kitchen. It wouldn't hurt to step away from things for awhile.

XXXXX

"Emma," Dean said, knocking on the frame of her open door. "Ya figure out what song ya wanna do?"

Emma nodded and grabbed her ipod. It was around eight and Castiel and Claire had left not long ago. "I picked this one because I know you like the band and this is one of my favorites!"

Dean walked over and sat on the edge of her bed as she hooked up her ipod and soon the soothing vocals of Klaus Meine were washing over them. Emma climbed onto the bed and sat beside Dean, who pulled her into his side. They both closed their eyes and enjoyed the music.

When it came to an end Dean opened his eyes and looked down at Emma, "I think that'll work."

"Do you think you could play the guitar too? You haven't in a while but it'd be great..." Emma said, smiling.

Dean chuckled, "Sure, it shouldn't be a problem."

Emma hugged him tightly, "Thank you daddy..."

Dean leaned down and kissed her forehead, "Alright, bedtime Emma."

Emma pouted, "Can't I stay up a bit longer?"

"Nope, not gonna work. You have school tomorrow." Dean said, "Besides, I'll make you french toast for breakfast if you go to bed now."

Emma perked up, "Really?"

"Really." Dean replied, chuckling as Emma scrambled to get into bed. He leaned over and tucked her in, brushing her hair out of her face, "Night, Em."

"Night daddy!" Emma said, kissing Dean's nose, causing him to laugh, before snuggling down in her blankets.

Dean stepped out of the room and closed the door softly before sighing. He'd need to dig the guitar out again and he wasn't looking forward to that. He hadn't played it since they moved back to Lawrence a few years ago. Being so close to the old house, he didn't really feel like having another reminder of his parents, his mother more than his father really.

He sighed again before heading towards his room; it was closer to the attic door. It was one of those drop string doors, the ones with the ladders? He knew that Emma would find a way to get up there if she was near it so he'd purposely took the room near it so that he wouldn't have to worry about it.

There was a lot of old junk stored up there. Most of the pictures and books from the old house were up there, along with various things he and Sam had collected over the years living in apartments. He also had a lot of Emma's old clothes and toys up there because there just wasn't anywhere else to put them and he wasn't ready to get rid of it.

He grabbed hold of the string and pulled, avoiding the door and the stairs that fell down, before climbing up into the attic.

There was a good layer of dust on everything. Granted, he hadn't been up there since they moved into the house. Stepping into the room was a mess, dust flying everywhere and not being able to find the light so there was a lot of flailing around trying to find the string to the single bulb that hung in the middle of the room.

Maybe coming up there when it was dark out wasn't the best of ideas.

He finally got the light flicked on and looked around. The light was dim, but enough that he could get an idea of what was in the room.

There were boxes stacked to the ceiling in some places and others they were just scattered about and just out of the ring of light was the guitar case.

He walked over and pulled it down off the boxes, dusting it off as he did. The case was beat to hell, scuff marks all over it, a few dents here and there, even some places where there seemed to be a chunk taken out of it, though it didn't go all the way through.

He chuckled as he brushed all the dust off of it and spotted the Beatles sticker that had been stuck on it years ago by his mom.

He looked around and spotted a box that looked decently clean and took a seat.

He opened the case and smiled as he gently pulled the guitar out. It was a 1962 Gibson Dove with sunburst, looked damn near like the one Elvis had at one point in his life. He remembered his dad telling him about it. His grandpa, Henry, had gotten it as a present from his wife, Millie. Apparently it was something he'd been wanting for a while but never really had the money to get or the time to learn.

Millie had gone out and gotten a metal plate, about two inches long and about an inch wide, engraved; _For the light in my life, love your moon_. It was kinda cheesy in his opinion but knowing that his grandparents had been so in love always made him smile.

His dad had gotten it in '65, after Henry died in a car wreck, faulty breaks. He hadn't known how to play it until he was talking about it just sitting around to one of his coworkers at the shop when he was sixteen and the guy offered to teach him. After that, he'd taken to it like a duck to water.

He remembered John talking about Millie always wanting him to play when he had the time, and he always took time out of his day to play for her. It had been something that they shared up till John met and fell in love with Mary. Then it was something all three of them shared up until Mary died.

When she died, John hadn't wanted a thing to do with it. He'd stored it away at Millie's house and left it there till she died.

Dean had been seven when Millie, his grandma, had died. He hadn't known her all too well, but it was still a punch in the chest. She had been family and John was all too quick getting rid of everything. He'd rushed through the funeral, a cremation with the ashes spread at Henry's grave, and had the house sold with all the furniture left in it. The pictures and any heirlooms were placed in a storage locker, the cheapest that John could find, and he almost threw the guitar out but Dean had begged him for it.

It was something that ended up working for them in the later years.

Dean was a lot like John when it came to the guitar. The notes just made sense to him and he could pick up a tune to a song after listening to it just a few times. There had been times where John's bounties hadn't covered everything they needed so he had taken Dean to the streets to play some songs. It hadn't been the best but it had brought money in when they really needed it.

The sunburst was just as faded as he remembered, hands having rested in the same place for years, and it was highly out of tune. The mother of pearl in the bridge was a little faded, a quick polish would bring back the shine, and the inlays on the neck and body needed a good cleaning as well.

All in all, it wasn't something that would draw the eye of many people with how it looked. It may have been beautiful when it had been new, hell, it still was beautiful. But there are many types of beauty in the world and a dirty, untuned guitar wouldn't make the cut to anyone who didn't know the real value in it.

He fiddled with the tuners until he was getting a good sound out of it when he strummed and hummed in satisfaction. He'd need to pick up some new picks and some new strings, probably steel ones. The strings that were on it were pretty frayed and really needed a change, and the steel ones had a nice solid sound to them when plucked.

He frowned. He'd need to play it constantly for the next bit. He still had calluses on his fingertips from the years he had played but he needed to work on his dexterity. The song wasn't that difficult to play but he'd need to work on playing while singing, since he hadn't done that since he had recorded those songs for Emma's Ipod.

He had a lot of work to do, but it was for his little girl, and if it made her smile, well, he'd deal with any of the consequences.

XXXXX

It was time for the concert. Sam and Jess had flown in from Stanford the day before and Emma hadn't stopped talking about the concert.

Dean, on the other hand, just wanted it all to be over.

"Seriously, though, I'm dyin here! I didn't know there'd be so many people! I thought it was gonna be a small thing!" Dean said as they walked into the gymnasium where the concert was being held.

"Dean, this is anything but a small school. What made you think it was going to be a small thing?" Sam asked, walking beside his brother since Castiel and Jess were discussing flowers again. "It'll be fine."

"What if it isn't though? What if I mess somethin up and Emma hates me for it?" Dean asked, looking at Sam, "I can't do that Sammy, I can't have Emma hate me."

"Dee, calm down." Sam said, pulling him over to the side, "Emma would never hate you, and you know that. You're just worrying like you always do when it comes to stuff like this."

"Sammy, people in this town already hate me. Hell, the only reason anyone comes to the shop is because they know I know what I'm doin! Like, twenty people in this town actually like me and the others just think I'm some punk with tattoos who thought it was a good idea to open up his daddy's shop. I don't want people hatin Emma because of me..." Dean said, looking down with a sigh.

"Look. You're going to go up there on that stage, and you're going to sing with your daughter. Out of everyone here, only Emma and I know what you sound like so people are going to be expecting you to sound like crap and they're probably going to judge you before you even step up on that stage. But Emma is looking forward to this and you're doing this for her, not all those other people. Now, stop stressing out because there's no way you're going to disappoint Emma. Now, the concert's about to start. Let's go find Jess and Cas." Sam said, punching Dean's shoulder lightly.

Dean rolled his eyes before smiling, "Thank's, Sammy."

"Don't worry about it, jerk."

"Bitch."

XXXXX

"Give the choir a hand! Didn't they do fantastic?" Amy Pond, the choir teacher, shouted, clapping her hands and smiling out at the crowd as everyone cheered. "Now that the main part of the concert is completed, we have a special section to show you all! I have allowed the students to request their parents to join them in a song and sent out permission slips. Five student's accepted the slips and only two returned them. I'd like Gideon Kaine's mother to come up as they will be the first performers tonight."

Dean's eyes widened when he heard how many people had actually accepted, "Are you kiddin me?! Only two of us?"

"Dean, calm down." Sam said, rolling his eyes once again as the Kaine's started their song; some country duet that a lot of the crowd seemed to know.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Sammy! I thought I was gonna see more parent's up there embarassin themselves before I had to go up there!" Dean muttered, running a hand through his hair in a nervous guesture.

"Dean," Castiel said, placing a hand on Dean's thigh, "You'll do fine. I'm sure you're much better than I am. I wasn't kidding when I said I sound like a drowning cat when I attempt to sing"

Dean snorted, "If anyone sounds like a drownin cat, it's me."

"You do not, Dean." Sam said, glaring at his brother, "You sing just fine. Now get your ass up there. It's your turn."

Dean paled but stood and headed for the front when Amy called him forward.

It was a struggle to push back all the hateful whispers as he headed up there. Emma's grin was the only thing keeping him from turning tail and running back to the Impala.

"Emma tells me that you'll be doing most of the singing?" Amy said, smiling at him.

"Uh, yeah, that's right." Dean said, wincing as his response echoed across the gym.

"Do you need anything?" Amy asked.

"Another mic. I'll be playin the guitar and I'm not sure if it'll be picked up." Dean said, picking up his guitar case and smiling as Emma ran up and gave him a quick hug and a quiet thank you.

"Here you are, Mr. Winchester!" Amy said, bringing the mic over to a stool that Emma had drug over.

Dean nodded and adjusted it so it would catch the guitar notes perfectly before adjusting the one he would be singing into. He took a deep breath, looking back over to Emma before looking out at the crowd. "This song we're gonna be playin is one that my dad use to play for my mom when I was little and I use to play it for Emma before movin back here. I'm sure most of y'all will recognize it."

He took another deep breath before nodding to Emma, "One, two, three."

He strummed the guitar, the notes coming to him quickly as the song flowed in his mind. It was usually accompanied by more instruments but the guitar would have to suffice.

He opened his eyes, catching Castiel's, as he began the song, " _Wise man said, 'Just walk this way, To the dawn of the light. The wind will blow into your face, As the years pass you by'. 'Hear this voice from deep inside, It's the call of your heart, Close your eyes and you will find, Passage out of the dark'._ "

His voice flowed from him, washing over all those listening and shocking them into silence. Most were astonished that a man that everyone saw as some punk ass hick was able to sing so smoothly. His voice was just the right mix of deep, but not too deep, and smooth as silk. The words didn't seem to have any trouble flowing from his tongue and it awed everyone.

Emma's voice was a higher pitch, the soprano to Dean's baritone, as she sang the chorus, " _Here I am,_ " Dean echoed this softly into the mic, " _Will you send me an angel? Here I am_ " another soft echo from Dean, " _In the land of the morning star..._ "

Dean played a few more notes, focusing on the flow of the song and not the silence of the crowd, " _Wise man said, 'Just find your place, in the eye of the storm, Seek the roses along the way, Just beware of the thorns_."

Emma repeated the chorus with Dean as backup, smiling the entire time, seeing Dean's eyes closed as he got into the song, moving his head to the beat and really putting his all into it.

Dean was in his own little world, wrapped up in the song and thinking of his parents, how Mary was the angel who saved John when his father had passed and how Emma had saved him when he was getting too deep, and how Castiel was saving him now. They were the angels he needed, and they were the ones God had sent him. He couldn't be more thankful. " _Wise man said, 'Just raise your hand, And reach out for the spell, Find the door to the promised land, Just believe in yourself. Hear this voice from deep inside, It's the call of your heart, Close your eyes and you will find, The way out of the dark._ "

Emma took a deep breath before she sang the final chorus, knowing that everything was coming to a close and that Dean would soon be back to reality. She really didn't want this to end, but she knew it had to, since they only had one song. " _Here I am, Will you send me an angel? Here I am, In the land of the morning star!_ "

As the song came to a close, people jumped from their seats to applaud, causing Dean's head to shoot up as he remembers that he's in front of at least five hundred people.

"Encore!" One of the people in the crowd shouts, much to Dean's surprise and Emma's joy.

Emma looked over at Dean, giving him the puppy eyes, causing him to sigh and look over to Amy, "Would it be alright?"

"Of course!" Amy responded, "We set enough time so that we could have five people sing after the concert so there's plenty of time for another song!"

Emma grinned and rushed over to Dean, whispering something in his ear, causing him to laugh before nodding, "Sure, you wanna sing most of it this time?"

Emma nodded, "Yeah! You know the notes, right?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, I'll help with the chorus, alright?"

"Okay daddy!" Emma said, rushing back to her mic and giving Dean a thumbs up.

Dean adjusted things before strumming the guitar, this time it sounded much more country, much to the surprise of the others.

Emma grinned and took a deep breath, ", " _Girl, I been thinkin' 'bout us, And you know I ain't good at this stuff, These feeling pilin'_ _up won't give me no rest, This might come out a little crazy, A little sideways, yeah maybe, I don't know how long it'll take me but I'll do my best."_

Dean laughed as he joined in for the chorus, " _You'll be my soft and sweet, I'll be your strong and steady, You'll be my glass of wine, I'll be your shot of whiskey, You'll be my sunny day, I'll be your shade tree, You'll be my honeysuckle, I'll be your honey bee!_ "

The song was cheesy, extremely so, and the only reason he knew it was because Emma and Jess really enjoyed the song. It was by a country singer, Blake Shelton, and Dean had to admit that the song had grown on him. Especially after he had met Cas.

The song really fit him and Cas. Dean was rough around the edges but Cas seemed to smooth him out. He was more relaxed when the man was around him and he was happier with him around. Everyone who knew him had pointed it out and he couldn't help but to smile wider as the song came to a close.

It spoke to him and he realized something that he'd been pushing aside for months now, something he had known the moment he met Cas.

The realization should have terrified him, but he just felt a warmth in his chest from it. It's not every day that you realize that you're in love.

He took Emma's hand and bowed with her. He thought it was ridiculous but with how he was feeling, he didn't stop to think of how he'd look to anyone else. His eyes met Cas's and his grin grew bigger.

Maybe things would work out for the best.

XXXXX

"We're headed back to the hotel," Sam said, "Our plane takes off at five in the morning and the hotel's closer to the airport... Sorry we couldn't stay longer but we have finals coming up and the weddings coming up in a few weeks so we can't really afford to stay away from the college unless we want to be doing our finals when we should be on our honeymoon."

Dean just grinned, "Don't worry about it, Sammy! You both will be back in a couple of weeks so we can go out for drinks then."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, and we'll have to talk about the music then too. I want to see what you have set up for it."

"Isn't that supposed to be a surprise?" Dean asked, frowning, "It's not like I'm gonna have Metallica or Motorhead playin, I know that's not suitable for y'all's weddin."

"And no Taylor Swift." Sam said, giving Dean a look.

Jess and the others looked at them, "Taylor Swift?" She asked, grinning.

"Dean has a weird obsession with _Shake It Off_ , for some reason." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey!" Dean yelled, "We weren't supposed to talk about it! Or do you want them to know about your weird music obsession?"

Sam's eyes widened, "Dean, don't do it!"

Dean grinned, "Oh, so you don't want them to know that you hooked your Ipod up to the stereo once and Av-"

Sam tackled him, causing Dean to grunt as he felt a pull at his still healing injury, "Don't!"

"Sam has an obsession with," Dean ducked Sam's grabbing hands and yelled, "Avril Lavigne!"

Sam put Dean in a headlock but Dean managed to worm his way out of it and hid behind Jess, who was laughing. "Hey, Jess was bound to find out sooner or later! I just made it sooner!"

"Dean." Sam growled, ready to attack his brother again but Jess stopped him by slipping up next to him and kissing his cheek.

"I think it's cute. Besides, there's nothing wrong with either of those artists." Jess said, "I listen to them both and I know plenty of people on campus who listen to them too; male and female."

Dean rolled his eyes and fake gagged, causing Emma to giggle, "Well, Claire and Cas are stayin at the house tonight. You sure ya don't wanna stay? It'll save ya some money."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, we'll be leaving really early and you just got cleared to go back to work. You need to worry about that."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Ya act like I sleep all the time."

"You kind of do, Dean." Castiel said, smiling.

"Yeah, you're finally sleeping normally, we don't need to mess that up." Sam agreed.

"Hey, I did just fine. I got enough sleep." Dean muttered.

"Most people can't function normally on three or four hours of sleep like you seem to be able to. Besides, your moods been a lot better since you started sleeping more." Sam said, "And it's not like we won't be here in a couple of weeks, feels like you keep forgetting that."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but I'd feel better with ya both near me."

"Awe, are you going soft on us, Dean?" Sam joked, nudging him.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." Sam responded, pulling Dean into a big hug, "Look, when we get back before the wedding we'll go out to that orchard we visited back when grandma was here and we can get some of those apples. I'm sure Jess wouldn't mind making a pie."

Jess smiled, "I wouldn't mind at all. Besides, you'll be keeping Sam out of our hair while we deal with some last minute wedding details."

Dean laughed as Sam pouted, "Alright, I guess that'll work. Call me when you guys get there tomorrow or I'll drive there and kick your ass, Sammy."

Sam nodded, "Will do. Right, Jess?"

"Of course." She smiled, giving Dean and the others a hug, "We'll see you in a couple of weeks!"

"Bye guys!"

XXXXX

Dean looked up at the ceiling. It was nearly midnight and he hadn't been able to fall asleep yet. He hadn't been able to work up the courage to tell Cas how he felt yet and with him asleep right beside him, the thoughts wouldn't stop.

He rolled over and sighed, looking over Cas's face. He looked relaxed. All the lines on his face were smoothed out in sleep and he looked so peaceful. Without realizing it, everything started to slip out.

"I love you, Cas," Dean whispered, not wanting to wake up his bed partner, "I really do. I know we haven't said it yet, but I've known since the beginnin. I hadn't realized what it was until I was up there singin and now it's all that I can think of. I hate that I can only say it when you're asleep but I don't have the guts to do it any other time. You're the best thing that's happened to me, other than Emma, and I'm glad that we met. You could do so much better than me but you chose me and that means a lot to me..." He sighed and rolled back over onto his back and closed his eyes, "I don't understand why you put up with me, hell, I would've taken off seconds after meetin me if I were you... But I'm glad you didn't, and I'm glad you decided to stay."

He felt the bed shift, his eyes snapping open, to see Cas hovering over him.

"Hello Dean."

"You were awake for that? How much ya hear?" Dean asked, trying not to blush in embarrassment.

"I was awake the entire time." Cas said, much to Dean's embarrassment. "You think so little of yourself, Dean." Cas muttered, leaning down and kissing Dean lightly, "You are a wonderful man and you take good care of your daughter. You even stay in touch with Ben and Lisa when you don't need to. You have your own business, you are a fantastic father, you care about your family and friends, and you give your all in everything you do. It's an honor to be dating you, Dean."

Dean blinked, "I'm not that great, Cas..."

Cas chuckled, "Should I show you how _great_ you really are, Dean?"

Dean's face heated even as a tingle of heat shot through his body at Cas's question. "W-what do ya mean?"

Cas looked Dean in the eyes. There was a new heat in them, lust boiling over into something else, something softer. "I'm sure you can figure it out Dean."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to Dean's. It was a slow, sweet burn. There was no pressure to deepen the kiss but the sweetness of it conveyed everything Cas was wanting to say in a way words couldn't. Dean couldn't help but gasp, Cas taking advantage to slip his tongue into Dean's mouth, coaxing his tongue into his own as he tilted his head to deepen it.

The speed stayed a slow burn, neither really rushing to hasten the pace or do anything other than kiss; happy with how things were at the moment.

They broke apart with a thin trail of saliva still connecting them; not even an inch from each others face.

Dean's eyes slowly opened up, unsure of when he had even closed them, and he looked up at Cas with heat pooling in his belly. He knew what Cas was wanting and he couldn't help but to agree that he wanted it too. "Cas... please."

Cas's eyes widened for a moment before he swept back in, connecting their mouths with a softness Dean had never experienced before. Most of his lovemaking was hard and fast, so he was unused to the slow pace Cas was setting.

He slid his hands up under Cas's shirt and stroked his sides, smiling at the soft moan that drew out of the other's lips even as Cas pulled away to remove Dean's shirt.

Cas sat back and pulled his own over his head, tossing both into a pile on the floor beside the bed.

"Are you sure, Dean?" Cas whispered into Dean's ear, kissing down his jaw and onto his neck.

Dean moaned, "Yes..."

Cas chuckled, even as his hands came up to trace Dean's collar bones before sliding down his chest to hold his hips down in a rough grip.

Dean let his head fall back as Cas trailed his nose down the side of his neck and over his collarbone, pressing a light kiss to the dip between them, before moving down between his pecks, completely avoiding his raised nipples, to trace over the light indentations of his abs, covered with a small layer of fat from all the burgers and pie he ate. Cas pressed another kiss to the slight pudge around his belly button before tracing it with his tongue, barely dipping it in before dragging himself back up to lather attention to Dean's nipples.

He latched on to the left nipple, giving it a few light suckles before pinching the other between his fingers and tugging softly, eliciting a moan from Dean and a thrust of his hips, which he forced back down with his other hand.

He pulled off of the nipple to look at Dean, a brow raised, "Did I tell you you could move?"

Dean's eyes widened, "W-what?"

Cas's grip on his hip tightened for a moment before letting up, "Don't move unless I tell you to, ok?"

Dean blinked before slowly nodding his head, earning a kiss.

"Good boy."

Dean blushed and looked towards the wall to hide his embarrassment, even though his cock twitched. This was new. He hadn't really ever been ordered to do anything in the bedroom other than go faster and he was shocked to find that he was already harder than he'd been before.

"Dean," Cas whispered, dragging his name out into more syllables than there were in his name. "Don't think about it, just let go."

Cas let go of his hips and rubbed up and down his sides, making him relax a bit. He slipped his hand below the band of Dean's shorts, rubbing his thumb along the skin where his leg connects to his hips. He kissed back up Dean's chest and neck while doing so.

"Dean, lube?" Cas asked, not stopping his ministrations.

Dean pointed towards the bedside table and watched Cas as he crawled over to it, pulling the bottle of lube and a condom out of the drawer.

Cas looked over his shoulder and laughed when he saw Dean staring at him, "Dean, come here."

Dean crawled over and kneeled in front of Cas, still an inch taller than the other.

Cas set the lube and condom to the side and placed his hands on Dean's shoulders, "Relax, there's no need to rush this and you seem too tense."

Dean chuckled, "Well, I don't typically bottom..."

Cas rolled his eyes, "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"But I want to," Dean said quickly, "For you..."

Cas smiled softly and tilted Dean's head back up from where he had ducked to hide his blush, "Dean, you don't have to do this for me."

Dean sighed and laid his head on Cas's shoulder, "But I want to, really."

Cas nodded, "If you're sure of it." He removed his hands from Dean's shoulders, "Lay on your stomach."

Dean quickly flopped onto his stomach, pulling a pillow towards himself to rest his head on.

Cas straddled Dean's back and looked over the intricate tattoo on Dean's back, "This is a very detailed tattoo, where did you get it done?"

Dean tensed up beneath him so Cas rubbed his back, dragging his hands up and digging them in a bit around the shoulder blades before circling around and coming back down, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to Dean, but I would like to know."

Dean sighed, "Cas, it's not as simple as that..."

"What do you mean?" Cas asked, brow raising.

Dean pushed his face into the pillow and Cas could barely make out some muffled noises. "I can't understand you with your face in the pillow, Dean. Remove the pillow and speak clearly."

Dean tilted his head up, not really wanting to tell Cas, "Look, it's really personal..."

"So you can tell me that you love me but you can't tell me about this?" Cas asked, tracing a feather with the tip of his finger and smirking at Dean's sharp inhale.

"Stop that!" Dean growled, wiggling around beneath Cas.

Cas placed his hands on Dean's hips and pressed down, "Dean, stop moving." As soon as Dean stopped, Cas started massaging his lower back, "I'm not saying you need to tell me now, but I would like to know eventually. I just wish you would trust me enough to tell me without prompting."

Dean sighed, "Cas..." He rubbed the bridge of his nose even as he felt the muscles of his back release, "It's somethin I haven't really shared with many people. Jess found out a few months ago and she's been pretty cool about it but that was by accident. Benny and Ash don't know about it. Hell, other than Sam, Jess, Emma, and Bobby no one really knows about it other than the people who did it."

Cas frowned, "Dean..?"

"It's not really a tattoo Cas." Dean muttered. He took a deep breath, "Watch out."

Cas moved down to the back of Dean's thighs with a frown. He didn't understand why he needed to move, but he knew Dean had his reasons.

Dean concentrated, he didn't want his wings shooting out of his back. Even though the conversation had taken a bit of a deep turn, he was still hard. Probably because of Cas still sitting on him. Yeah, most likely because of that.

They slowly started to peel away from his skin, the black ink transforming into beautiful dark tan feathers, splatters of orange looking dots were all over them in arrays that could have been a map of the stars to Cas. In the middle of the two enormous wings that were now stretched out before him was a patch of silky looking emerald green feathers that merged into the skin on Dean's back.

When Dean didn't hear anything from Cas, he buried his face in the pillow again, feeling his heart sinking. He had always known that as soon as he found someone he loved and shared his deepest secret with them, that they'd reject him. Who would want to be with someone who had wings?

"Dean..." Cas whispered, looking at the powerful appendages that had sprouted from Dean's back in awe, a hand reaching out and hovering just over them, "Can... Can I touch them?"

Dean tensed when he heard his name, expecting the worst, but what came out of Cas's mouth surprised him. "Uh, I guess. No one other than Sam's ever touched them before."

Cas felt a spark of pleasure run through him at the thought of being the first person, other than Sam, to touch the beautiful wings. He let his hand stroke through the soft down that was hidden under the sturdier outer feathers. He was mesmerized, but he didn't miss the soft moan that escaped Dean's throat.

He smirked and ran his hand down the wing towards the base, where the smaller feathers were, and dug his fingers in again, this time, pulling gently.

[skip][skip][skip][skip]

Dean groaned, "I'm layin in my own jizz..."

Cas chuckled, turning his head to place a kiss between Dean's wings, "It could be worse, Dean. It could be all over your face."

Dean paused before looking over his shoulder at Cas, who looked at him funny, "What?"

"Next time, you're totally fuckin my mouth." Dean said, grinning.

Cas blinked before he started to laugh, "If you want it then who am I to deny you of that?"

"You'd be an ass if you did." Dean responded with his own laugh.

Cas pulled out and got off the bed, still chuckling, as he tossed the condom in the trash and grabbed a wash cloth to clean them up.

Dean stretched his wings out as far as he could before pulling them in and hiding them away from view so he could roll onto his back with a satisfied groan.

Cas walked back into the room, wash cloth in hand, and climbed onto the bed to clean Dean up.

Dean hummed lazily as Cas cleaned up the drying semen, "Y'know, I could get use to this."

"Oh? And what is this?" Cas asked, tossing the rag towards the dirty clothes hamper.

"Being with you." Dean said, pulling Cas to him and tossing the covers over them both as he cuddled Cas to his chest, "Never really had sex like that before... it was nice."

"So I didn't freak you out with the ordering you around?" Cas replied, counting the freckles on Dean's chest.

"Not really. I, uh, I kinda liked it." Dean said, blushing, "Besides, you took me havin wings pretty well."

"They're beautiful, and a part of you, Dean." Cas muttered, his eyes closing as he soaked in the warmth, "I wouldn't change a thing about you."

Dean smiled and pressed a kiss to Cas's hair, "Night Cas."

"Goodnight Dean, I love you." Cas muttered as his breathing evened out.

Dean blinked in surprise before closing his eyes and holding Cas closer, "Love ya too, Cas."

 **Note: Yeah, I'm cutting out the sex scene. Sorry, but if you want to read it, you'll have to read it over on my AO3. I don't want to risk my account being deleted because of one sex scene. AO3 is Massimotostato.**


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